


Hearts Will Melt Like Ice

by clarkes_murphy



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: F/F, OKAY OKAY OKAY SUPER EXCITED ABOUT THIS ONE, and john murphy is an adorable idiot, and octaven are domestic and gross and in love, basically clarke and lexa are both awkward nerds who love sea turtles, clexa au, idek how else to tag this, marine hospital au, modern clexa, octaven au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-03
Updated: 2016-09-02
Packaged: 2018-07-19 21:55:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 20,933
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7378825
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/clarkes_murphy/pseuds/clarkes_murphy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Marine hospital AU: in which Clarke really wants to see the turtles and Lexa is the one who catches her sneaking in.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Notes: Basically all of this is made up, so take everything with a pinch of salt and remember that this is entirely fictional and idk if my ‘rules’ are anything like the rules of an actual marine center (I only have experience with zoos, unfortunately) so try not to get too mad if something isn’t entirely accurate or true to life.
> 
> I’m super excited about this story so I really hope y’all like it, and don’t hesitate to leave a comment or maybe share it with your friends if you’d like to!

Lexa awoke to the sound of waves lapping gently against the side of the boat. Her arms rose upwards and she stretched out across the bed, letting out a quiet contented sigh as her eyes fluttered open and she waited for the sleepy haze to clear. She lay there for a few more seconds before forcing herself to sit up, grabbing her phone from her bedside table to check it. One message from Anya, but that was nothing out of the ordinary. She often woke to texts from her adopted sister, always sent at some ridiculous hour – usually they were pictures of whichever place Anya was exploring at the time, and this time was no different. Lexa clicked on the message and it opened to reveal a couple of stunning photos of The London Eye, all artsy filters and hipster angles. So Anya. 

Lexa typed back a quick message made up of lots of heart-eye emojis and some smiley faces, before tossing her phone onto her pillow and forcing herself out of the warm bed and into the chill cabin air. She stumbled over to the counter top and flicked on the kettle, then tiptoed down the tiny corridor and into the bathroom. Her morning routine was effortless for her now – pee, brush teeth, shower, brush hair (even though she always ended up just shoving it up into a messy bun), get dressed, then grab a piece of fruit for her walk to work.

Not that it was a very long walk to the Polis Sea Life Rehabilitation Center; living on a boat had its perks, and being tethered to a dock that was only a minute’s walk away from the marine hospital was definitely one of them. 

She arrived at the center minutes later, shooting a smile at the employees who were opening up the ticket offices before going round to the back and letting herself in through the staff entrance.

“Morning, Lexa.”

“G’mornin’, Gus,” she spoke around a mouthful of banana, swallowing the last bite before walking over to her boss, who was lazily skimming over the newspaper that was draped across his lap. “Everything okay?”

Gus let out a grunt as his eyes continued roving across the page. Lexa smiled and patted him once on the arm before making her way towards the door on the other side of the room, that led out into the main part of the center that was open to the public. This was one of Lexa’s favourite moments of the day – waiting to join the hustle and bustle of the crowds that would soon start filling the walkways, seeing the joy on kid’s faces when they saw their favourite sea animals and watching them gasp with wide eyes when they were told about all of the amazing work that was done there at Polis. 

That was one of Lexa’s jobs – leading educational talks on what Polis did for the animals and why it was important that they help the animals but not keep them in captivity once they were recovered. There was a time when she was worried that Polis would become a capitalist marine park, when a rich entrepreneur named Cage Wallace came sniffing around and wouldn’t stop trying to convince them to sell him the center and let him transform it into a money-making attraction. But Gus point-blank turned him down, saying that any money the center made was used only to help rehabilitate and then release the animals that they rescued, and to pay the employees who devoted their time and hearts to the cause. Lexa smiled as she remembered the way Gus had stood his ground, refusing to be swayed by Cage’s numerous attempts at bribery. Polis had felt like a home to her for so long now, she didn’t know what she would’ve done if it had been turned into some corporate hellhole. 

“Earth to Lexa!”

Lexa jumped, dropping the hose that she’d forgotten she was holding. It landed on the concrete with a loud clatter and sent a spray of water cascading up into her face.

“Damn it, Murphy!”

The skinny boy was doubled over with laughter, his hair falling into his eyes as he straightened up with a wide grin on his face.

“It’s not funny. You scared me.”

Lexa tried to keep the sternness in her voice as water dripped down her cheeks, but Murphy was smiling and she couldn’t help but laugh along with him.

“Okay, okay, laugh it up,” she grinned, shoving him playfully before reaching over to shut off the hose. “You won’t be laughing when I push you in with the sharks.”

“Ouch, that was harsh.” He held his hand over his heart and feigned being in pain, dropping to his knees before flopping onto his back, legs stuck up in the air like a dead bug.

“You’re such an idiot, Murphy.”

“That’s why we’ve been friends for so long, Woods.”

“No, we’ve been friends for so long because I was the only person with you when you got stung by a jellyfish four years ago and having to pee on someone is an experience that creates a very special bond between friends. Plus I just can’t seem to get rid of you no matter what I do, so at this point I’ve just accepted that I’m stuck with you for life.”

“Smartass.”

“I think you mean ‘great ass’”, Lexa smirked, chuckling as Murphy rolled his eyes while he stood and turned to walk towards the dolphin enclosure.

“Don’t forget you’re on sea turtle duty today!” he called over his shoulder. “And I’ll see you at twelve-thirty for lunch!”

She waved a hand in the air even though he couldn’t see her then bent to wind up the hose, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear before dragging her sleeve across her forehead. It wasn’t even 9am yet and it was already sweltering, but Lexa didn’t mind because sea turtle duty included physical therapy for the turtles with damaged flippers, which gave her a brilliant excuse to jump into the water and cool off. 

At least, that’s what she was planning on doing when she walked across the park and entered the sea turtle habitat. What she wasn’t expecting was to see someone already in there – someone who wasn’t dressed in the Polis’ uniform and who definitely shouldn’t have been knee deep in the water and surrounded by injured turtles.

Lexa raced around the viewing area and hastily flung open the security gate, striding over to the turtle pool which the intruder was currently standing in the middle of as she gazed down at the turtles swimming lazily around her.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?!”

The trespasser’s head snapped up, panic in her sky blue eyes. She tried to turn and run, but the floor of the pool was slippery and she lost her footing, falling face-first into the shallow water. A smirk tugged at Lexa’s lips as she watched the blonde flounder for a moment. 

Then, with a loud sigh and a roll of her eyes, she stepped over the low pool wall and waded over to the flailing woman, grabbing one of her arms before helping her to her feet.

“Alright, okay, I’ve got you.”

The woman spluttered and shook as Lexa pulled her over to the wall and helped her out of the pen, wrenching herself free from Lexa’s grip as soon as she was on stable land. Lexa simply stood and stared with her arms crossed over her chest, eyebrows narrowed in her best ‘disappointed’ frown.

“Care to explain?”

The blonde crossed her own arms over her chest, mirroring Lexa’s stance and sticking out her chin in what Lexa assumed was meant to be a defiant gesture. It was more cute than intimidating, especially when she was soaked from head to toe, but Lexa wasn’t about to say that out loud.

“Take that as a no, then.”

Still, the intruder said nothing.

“Well, you have to come with me,” Lexa sighed, already desperate to unload this onto Gus so she could get back to her job before the gates opened and the place was filled with people. 

The blonde simply nodded in resignation, seeming to deflate as she followed Lexa out of the shady turtle habitat and into the glaring sunshine. Minutes later and they were standing in Gus’ office, Lexa looking pointedly at the woman like a teacher about to berate a naughty child.

“Gus, hey.”

He swivelled around in his chair, looking up from the thick binder he’d been flicking through moments ago.

“Lexa, what’s up?”

Lexa’s chin raised slightly, her jaw set in a firm line.

“Well, I went into the turtle habitat for a routine check, but then I found…” Lexa’s words faded out as she looked at the blonde, hand waving uselessly in her direction. “Um, what’s your name?”

“Clarke. Clarke Griffin.” 

She shuffled from one foot to the other as her eyes darted nervously between Gus and Lexa.

“Am I in trouble? Look, I know I shouldn’t have gone in there and I know it’s against the rules but I wasn’t trying to hurt them or anything, it’s just that I just moved here from New York and I’ve never seen a turtle in real life before and…” 

Clarke trailed off as Gus and Lexa stared at her, Lexa’s face set in a frown while Gus looked marginally amused.

“Please don’t call the police.”

Lexa could hear the desperation in Clarke’s voice and she felt her resolve waver.

“Look, I didn’t think anyone was going to be around and I was only going to stay in there for a minute or so, if you hadn’t found me then you wouldn’t have even known that I was in there so technically you could just pretend that this never happened–”

Gus held up one hand to silence Clarke’s rambling.

“Lexa?”

Her piercing green eyes met his steady gaze.

“What do you think? Should we call the cops? Or should we let her off the hook?”

Lexa’s eyes flicked over to Clarke, who was watching her intently, her bottom lip caught between her teeth.

“Neither.”

Gus raised one eyebrow, motioning for Lexa to continue.

“We’ll make a compromise. We won’t call the police–”

Clarke let out a sigh of relief.

“–if you work for us – as an unpaid volunteer, of course – for, let’s say… three months?”

Lexa looked to Gus, who nodded approvingly. 

Clarke was also nodding, albeit with noticeably less confidence.

“Okay then. Problem solved,” Gus said, scratching at his left bicep which was covered in thick black tribal tattoos. “Go on then. Get to work, you two.”

Lexa froze. “What?”

“Well, you’re the one who found her and came up with the idea. I figured you might as well be the one she works with.”

Lexa fought back the eye-roll that she was desperate to direct at Gus. Instead, she plastered a smile onto her face, knowing that Gus was a pretty reasonable boss most of the time and that he’d been good to her over the years, so she should do this for him without complaining.

“Sure thing, boss.”

“Atta girl. Oh, and grab Miss Griffin a uniform from the lost and found.”

Lexa nodded once before heading into a room off to the side of the main staff room, returning with the regulation navy blue shirt-and-shorts combo that all Polis employees had to wear.

“These should fit you.”

“Thanks.”

Lexa heard the wobble in Clarke’s voice and knew she was still reeling from the shock of things not going at all how she’d expected. A sliver of sympathy squeezed around her heart and she gave Clarke a small smile as she led her over to the staff toilets.

“You can change in here. Give me your stuff when you’re done and I’ll put it in a locker for you, and your wet clothes can go in the drier over there.”

Clarke gave Lexa a shaky smile as she took the clothes and retreated into one of the cubicles, shutting the door softly behind her. Lexa heard the quiet click of the lock sliding into place, then walked back out into the main room where Gus was now watching the security cameras.

“I really should’ve seen her sneak in, y’know.”

“I’m surprised you notice anything considering your head is always buried in some book,” Lexa teased, perching on the desk beneath the array of monitors that lined the wall. “Anyway, it’s not a big deal. Like she said, she wasn’t actually doing anything. Just another overzealous admirer wanting to get up close and personal with the turtles.”

Gus shot Lexa a knowing look. 

“Oh, don’t start, Gus.”

He held up his hands in mock-surrender. “What?!”

“You know what.”

“I didn’t even say anything.”

“You didn’t have to.”

Gus’ chest puffed as he let out a laugh. “I’m just saying, there was once a time when a tiny girl with wild frizzy hair came marching up to me and demanded to work with the turtles and you were so determined and stubborn that I didn’t have the heart to say no.”

This time Lexa allowed the eye-roll to happen, flicking Gus’ ear despite the smile that was pulling at the corners of her mouth. 

“You’re never going to let me forget that, are you?”

“Not a chance.”

“Jerk.”

Gus opened his mouth to reply but their back-and-forth was interrupted by a soft cough coming from across the room. Lexa turned to see Clarke standing in the doorway that led to the toilets.

“Uh, sorry,” she mumbled, clutching a pile of clothes to her chest. “The drier?”

“Yeah, this way.”

Once again Clarke fell into step behind Lexa, following her down a small hallway to the right of the bathrooms and into a tiny room that was no bigger than a broom closet. Two of the walls were lined with small square lockers, and on the other two hung motivational posters and photographs of the employees posing with various animals, each photo with the name of the animal and its release date scrawled across the bottom.

“It’s not much, but it works.” Lexa’s voice had a slight edge to it, as if she was daring Clarke to say otherwise.

But the blonde simply nodded before shoving her clothes into the drier and turning it on. 

“Your cell phone goes into your locker. You may retrieve it during your breaks but always return it before your shift begins again.”

Clarke pulled her phone out of her shorts’ pocket – Lexa only now taking a moment to study her in the Polis’ uniform and realising that the shirt was slightly too small and that it clung to Clarke’s body in a way that made Lexa’s mouth dry and she had to remind herself that she was at work and she was meant to be professional – and placed it in a locker about hallway down before turning to Lexa, eyes wide with a mixture of fear and what looked like excitement.

“Okay, I’m ready.”

“Follow me.”

Lexa walked Clarke back out to the main grounds, calling goodbye to Gus as the door to the staff quarters slammed shut behind them.

“So, what are we doing first? You were coming into the turtle pool earlier, does that mean we get to start with the turtles?” Clarke’s words left her mouth in one breath and Lexa chuckled.

“You seem to have changed your tune.”

Clarke chewed on her lip momentarily before falling into step beside Lexa.

“Well, I figured that if I’m going to be working here, I may as well make the most of it, y’know? I mean, I don’t have any experience at all with sea animals but I’ve always liked them, even the ones that people think are icky.”

Lexa quirked an eyebrow as she glanced at Clarke. “Icky?”

“Yeah, like, uh, stingrays. Or sharks. Jellyfish, too.”

Lexa snorted when her earlier conversation with Murphy popped into her head. Clarke fixed her with a questioning stare and Lexa suddenly felt her face begin to flush as Clarke’s eyes stayed focused on hers.

“Um, yeah, I guess they can be, uh, icky,” Lexa found herself tripping over her words and had to focus on the ground ahead of her before she started tripping over her feet too. “You won’t be working with any high-maintenance creatures like that, though.”

Clarke’s face fell.

“Nothing personal. It’s the rules. You’re technically not qualified to work here, hence the unpaid volunteer clause, so you’re not qualified to handle or interact with animals above a level three.”

Clarke’s focus was drawn momentarily as they passed Dolphin Domain, face lighting up when she caught a glimpse of a dorsal fin gliding across the surface of the water.

“Level three? What animals are under that level, then?”

Lexa stopped to lift a rope barrier that hung across a leafy pathway, signalling for Clarke to go under it, Lexa mimicking her actions moments later before letting the barrier fall back into place.

“Uh, let’s see. Coral, seals, tropical fish, otters… oh, and turtles.”

Lexa turned to see Clarke beaming at her, unable to keep her own face from cracking into a smile.

“Figured you’d be happy about that.”

Then Clarke frowned, noticing that they were heading further into the jungle-like canopy that they were walking beneath.

“But the turtles are back that way,” she pointed with her thumb. “Where are we going?”

Lexa grinned in a way that made Clarke’s stomach flip.

“So I thought it’d be good for you to start off with something a little… well, let’s just say your first job won’t involve playing with adorable seal pups.”

“You’re starting me off with something shitty to really punish me, aren’t you?”

“Pretty much, yeah.”

A few steps later and they burst out of the shade and came to a halt outside a brightly-lit enclosure. A poignant aroma filled the air around them.

“Is that,” Clarke sniffed and wrinkled her nose, “sardines?”

“Yup,” Lexa replied cheerfully. “Welcome to Penguin Paradise, Clarke.”

Clarke huffed as Lexa led her around the circular enclosure towards a small door that Lexa unlocked with one of the keys that hung on her belt. They entered a metal box-like room and the smell of fish intensified.

“Jesus, it stinks in here.”

“Better get used to that, you’re gonna be spending a lot of time in here today.”

Clarke fought to suppress the groan that rumbled in her chest. Lexa strode over to the utility cupboard, rooting around for a second or two before stepping back with a pair of boots in one hand and a broom in the other.

“Dare I ask what my job is?”

“I’m going to tell you whether you ask or not.”

“Funny.”

“I try.”

Lexa held out the boots and broom, which Clarke took with a begrudging frown.

“Basically, you’re on poop duty. Stick on those boots, then head out into the enclosure. Use the broom to loosen the crap from the floor, then use this power hose–”, she gestured to a thin black device that looked like a leaf-blower, “–to wash it all away down the drains that are dotted around the penguin pool. Got it?”

A nod from Clarke.

“Good. Oh, and if you need anything, radio me. You’ll find the walkie somewhere on that desk.”

Clarke glanced over at the desk in the corner; it was littered with yellowed paper and empty chocolate wrappers.

“Any questions?”

“Yeah, actually. When’s lunch?”

This made Lexa genuinely laugh and Clarke was briefly taken back, but she also liked the sound of Lexa’s laugh and decided that she wanted to hear it again sometime soon.

“Twelve-thirty. Meet me by the turtles.”

“Okay.”

Lexa gave her one last fleeting smile and then she was gone, the metal door clanging shut behind her as she left Clarke in the stale room. Clarke took a deep breath – a decision she quickly regretted when the fishy stench invaded her nostrils even more – before slipping off her shoes and sliding on the boots. Then she grabbed the power hose, finding an outlet to plug it into and letting the wire unravel behind her as she went through the door on the other side of the metal hut to enter the penguin enclosure.

There was a moment of quiet. And then the air was filled with squawks and trills as a small group of penguins came trundling over an icy ridge and landed at Clarke’s feet. They stared up at her for a moment, sizing her up, before losing interest and diving into the water one by one. 

She watched them paddle around for a moment before leaning the hose against the enclosure wall and picking up the broom. Little did she know that she too was being watched. Lexa had lingered outside Penguin Paradise and was now observing Clarke, laughing quietly to herself when Clarke started chatting animatedly to the penguins while continuing to clean. 

A few minutes later and Lexa made her way back through the sheltered footpath and into the other section of the Polis center, busying herself with (finally) tending to the turtles for the next few hours until lunch time rolled around. She found herself thinking about Clarke while she worked, and couldn’t stop picturing the colour of Clarke’s eyes and comparing them to the rich blue that tinted the waves when the sun was at its highest point and its rays spread out across the sky like it was trying to embrace the whole world in a warm hug.


	2. Chapter 2

“Hey, Murph.”

Murphy glanced up from his sandwich and gave a little wave, eyebrows raising when he caught sight of Clarke walking slightly behind Lexa.

“Uh, afternoon ladies.”

Lexa sat opposite Murphy, setting down her lunch tray and levelling him with a stare that said “Be nice or else.” He smirked as he took another bite, a sprig of rocket poking out from his lips as he chewed loudly.  


“So, who’s this?”

He smiled at Clarke, all goofy teeth and wide eyes. She liked him already.

“I’m Clarke. Griffin. I, uh… I’m new here. Volunteering.”

“Oh yeah? That’s cool. So how d’you know Lexa? You guys hook up in the past or something?”

Lexa choked on her bite of her pasta salad, trying to pass it off as a cough when Clarke looked at her.

“No, John,” she glared, cheeks redder than the apple on her tray, “It’s community service, kind of. Gus assigned me to show her the ropes.”

Murphy nodded, shooting Clarke a wink as he began unwrapping a blueberry muffin. She laughed when he bit into it and let out a loud moan, crumbs clinging to his pouty lips. Lexa rolled her eyes but secretly she was relieved to see them getting along. She didn’t know why she cared so much that Murphy liked Clarke, she just… did.

The rest of their lunch break continued on smoothly, much to Lexa’s relief. Murphy and Clarke talked about New York – he’d visited a bunch of times to see his best friend Mbege over the past few years, and Clarke had lived there all her life until moving to Polis, so they had a seemingly endless amount of stories to exchange. 

“Sorry to break up this bonding session, but we have to get back to work,” Lexa sighed, standing up and walking over to deposit her tray beside the bin. Murphy smiled at Clarke once more before leaping out of his seat and scurrying over to Lexa, stopping her before she could go back to their table.

“You like her.”

Lexa blanched, eyes flicking to Clarke to make sure she couldn’t hear them. Murphy caught her checking, eyes lighting up with glee.

“Oh my god, you like her soooooo much.”

“Shut up, Murphy.”

“Confirmed: Lexa is totally gay for Clarke Griffin.”

“I swear to god, I’m actually going to kill you one of these days.”

He chuckled, pushing his hair out of his face. “I’m just saying. You’re like, the opposite of subtle.”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“Oh, come on,” Murphy laughed, “You barely said a word during lunch because you were too busy staring at her.”

Lexa looked away, eyes glued to the concrete floor. “I– I wasn’t staring, I was–”

“Hey, Lex, it’s okay.” Murphy’s usually gruff voice took on a soft edge, and Lexa looked up to find him watching her, all mirth gone from his eyes. “I’m just teasing. Anyway, she seems great. And she’s hot as hell, too.”

Now Lexa smiled, chucking Murphy gently under the chin. “Thought you were asexual?”

“Just because I don’t wanna eat the candy, doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate the wrapping,” he grinned, laughing when Lexa shoved him away, her face twisted in a look of pseudo-disgust. 

“Anyway, I gotta go. Gus has been giving me grief about the dolphins again. See ya later, Lex,” he bobbed his head, turning to enthusiastically wave at Clarke. “Nice to meet ya!”

“Oh, uh, bye!”

Lexa smiled as Clarke raised a hand tentatively, still looking a little lost and confused when Lexa returned to her side and pointed her towards the tray deposit spot.

“So, you guys are close friends?” Clarke ventured, scraping her leftovers into the bin before placing her empty tray on top of the growing pile.

“Yeah, we are.”

“He seems nice.”

“He is. He was–”

Clarke stared at Lexa, waiting for her to finish.

“He’s really been there for me.”

Clarke felt like there was much more to the story than that but didn’t feel like she was in any position to push Lexa to say more, so she just nodded, wiping her hands on her jeans while looking at Lexa expectantly.

“What?”

“You, uh, you’re meant to show me what my next assignment is?”

Lexa tore her eyes up from where she’d been unknowingly staring at Clarke’s lips, eyelids fluttering a little. “Oh! Oh, right, yeah.”

If Clarke didn’t know any better, she could have sworn Lexa was blushing.

***

Ten minutes later and they were outside a stocky wooden door that led into a large glass enclosure. Clarke could see little brown snouts sniffing the air and thick tails disappearing into hollow logs. 

“Otters?”

Lexa smiled. “Yep. Welcome to Otter Cottage.”

“Nice rhyming.”

“Thanks, I helped come up with it.”

“Really?”

“No,” the word fell out of Lexa’s mouth amongst a laugh, “This place has been around since I was like five. But I like that you think so highly of me.”

A moment of silence stretched between them as they looked at each other, punctuated by the delighted shrieks of the children around them.

“Well, anyway,” Lexa motioned for Clarke to follow her through the door and into a small wooden hut, in which sat a large barrel of dry food and another door that led out into the otter enclosure. “We’re on feeding duty today.”

Clarke took the pair of gloves Lexa was holding out for her, shoving them onto her hands as she practically shook with excitement. Lexa grabbed an empty bucket, shovelling in scoops of food pellets until it was halfway full.

“Okay, so I’m gonna give you this,” she held up the bucket, “and all you have to do is sprinkle the pellets evenly around on the stump just outside this door.”  
Clarke reached out for the bucket, ignoring the way her stomach twisted when Lexa’s fingers brushed her glove-clad knuckles.

“And I’m going to check on Wade. He’s an older otter we’ve had here for a while and he doesn’t usually eat with the others so we take his food to him.”

This time Lexa motioned to the small Tupperware pot in her other hand that was marked ‘Wade’.

Another nod from Clarke.

“Alright, follow me.”

Clarke did as she was instructed, shadowing Lexa as they walked through the other door and into the pen. It had a distinct woodland feel to it – bark was strewn across the floor and a large willow tree blossomed on the bank of a small river that wound its way from one end of the enclosure to the other.

“It’s beautiful.”

Lexa smiled when she heard the awe in Clarke’s voice.

“All set on what you’ve got to do?”

“Sprinkle food pellets here,” Clarke pointed to a flat tree stump, “And wait for you to go and feed…”

“Wade.”

“Right, Wade.”

“See you in a minute,” Lexa chortled, leaving Clarke stood on the grassy bank while she made her way over to Wade’s den. 

She’d only been in there a minute when she heard a loud crash and a yelp coming from outside. Wade lazily cracked one eye as she threw his food into his bowl, grabbing the now-empty Tupperware pot before sprinting back out into the open enclosure. She saw a flurry of fur racing towards the tree stump, and then halted in her tracks when she saw the source of the commotion.

Clarke was flat on her back, wriggling around like a maniac while the band of otters scurried up and down her body. At first they seemed to be burrowing into her with their paws, but then Lexa noticed the pellets strewn all over the place and realised that the animals were picking the pellets off of Clarke in order to eat them.

“Lexa!”

Stifling a laugh with her hand, Lexa strode over, gently shooing the otters away before helping Clarke to her feet.

“What happened?”

“I tripped,” Clarke muttered, chagrin tinting her face while she brushed off any stray pellets that clung to her clothes.

“Oops, missed one.” Lexa reached up, fingers twisting in Clarke’s hair as she untangled the hard chunk and dropped it to the ground. Her fingertips lingered against Clarke’s neck for a moment as she pulled her hand away, and then Clarke was blushing and Lexa was looking anywhere but at Clarke and the air was stiflingly loud even though neither of them had said anything.

Then Lexa felt something tugging at her shoelace and she glanced down to see Rufus, a baby otter who had been abandoned by his mother only a few weeks earlier. Clarke’s face lit up and she couldn’t help but coo at the tiny creature when Lexa picked him up and cradled him in her arms. They stayed there for a few minutes, both focusing on Rufus so they didn’t have to focus on what had just happened between them. Then it was time for the next job and they said goodbye to the otters, spending the rest of their day feeding the other animals and avoiding eye contact with each other.

***

Clarke’s walk home from the Polis Rehabilitation Center wasn’t long at all, and within fifteen minutes of leaving work she found herself stumbling up the stairs and into her apartment, collapsing face-first onto the sofa in her small lounge that also served as a kitchenette. She’d only been lying there for a couple of minutes when the Skype tone began blaring out of her laptop. Groaning dramatically, she stood and shuffled over to her desk, slumping down into her desk chair before pressing the green Answer button. Despite her exhaustion, she was delighted when two faces popped up on the screen, smushed comically into the camera lens.

“You two look like the ugliest chipmunks ever,” she laughed, warmth spreading through her chest when they drew back and she could see them properly. “Hey guys.”  


“Clarke!” Octavia squealed, her grin so bright that Clarke was surprised the camera didn’t shatter.

“Hey, Griffin. Long time no see,” Raven smiled.

“I know, I know. It’s been kinda crazy here.”

“So, tell us all about it!” Octavia perched on Raven’s lap as they both leaned forwards eagerly.

“Well… it’s okay, I guess. My apartment is nice, and the area’s beautiful.”

Raven snaked her arms around Octavia's waist, pulling her back a little so they were nestled closer together.

“How’s the job hunt going?”

Clarke paused. “Um…”

“Okay, tell us everything.”

Clarke snorted. “How do you know there’s anything to tell?”

“Because we’ve known you for too long not to know when you’re hiding something,” Raven chipped in. “Out with it.”

“Fine, fine,” Clarke ran a hand through her hair, chuckling as she remembered her earlier antics with Lexa. “Okay, so I kinda have a job.”

“Kinda?”

“Yeah, well… it’s volunteer work.”

“Oh la la, look at you. I bet you’re grateful for your trust fund now.”

Clarke flicked at the screen. “Shush. It’s pretty cool, actually. It’s at a rehab center for injured marine animals.”

This caught the girls’ attention.

“Shit, for real?” Raven was grinning. “That’s wicked, Griffin.”

“I bet you get to do some amazing stuff, Clarke,” Octavia smiled.

“Uh, yeah, I guess.”

“Okay, there’s definitely still something you’re not telling us.”

“I hate how well you two know me.”

“Just stop moaning and tell us.”

“There’s nothing to tell, really!” Clarke threw up her hands, massaging her temples. “I mean, okay, so there’s this girl.”

“Ohhhhhhhh, damn.”

“Be quiet, Raven.”

“Who is she, Clarke?!”

“She works at the rehab center. Name’s Lexa.”

“That’s one letter away from Lexy. Which is one letter away from Sexy.”

“You’re so obnoxious, Ray.”

“One of the many reasons why you love me.”

“Oh my god, guys! Raven, stop winding Clarke up. Clarke, tell us about this Lexa person.”

Clarke rolled her eyes. “Really, there isn’t much to tell. She’s cute, and funny, and a bit of a dork, and, I don’t know, I guess we kinda had a moment, or something, today.”

“A moment?”

“What kind of moment?”

Clarke sighed, exasperated. “I don’t know! Just a moment. Something… I don’t know, I guess something happened between us, or whatever.”

Raven wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.

“No, Raven, it wasn’t like that.”

“You want it to be, though.”

Clarke couldn’t deny that. Lexa was adorable, after all. 

“Okay, fine. Maybe I’m a little interested.”

“Called it.”

“But nothing’s gonna happen. Pretty sure she’s not interested in me, like, at all.”

Octavia frowned. “Well, she’d be stupid not to be. You’re a prize, Clarke.”

“Thanks, O,” Clarke’s voice warmed as her friends smiled at her. “It’s just been so long, y’know, since…”

“Finn,” Octavia nodded understandingly, and even Raven dropped her jokey act for a reassuring smile.

“You okay, Griff?”

Clarke nodded. “Yeah, I’m okay. How could I not be, with you guys as my friends?”

Octavia beamed at this, while Raven contorted her face into one of repulsion and mimed over-exaggeratedly throwing up over the arm of the desk chair.

“You love the love, Raven.”

“She sure does,” Octavia murmured, turning to brush her lips across Raven’s jawline.

Clarke was convinced she saw Raven swoon a little.

“Anyway, I’m beat,” she sighed, yawning emphatically. “Gotta be up early tomorrow.”

“For Lexaaaaaa,” Raven crooned.

“Raven, behave,” Octavia chastised, grabbing her face and kissing her before she could say anything else.

“Octavia, you’re a blessing.”

“I know.”

“Stop hitting on my woman, Griffin.”

“Night, dorks,” Clarke grinned, waving goodbye before logging off and shutting her laptop. 

One shower and a cup of decaf tea later and she was in bed, reading under the warm glow of the lamp. It wasn’t even 11pm yet but she found her eyes drooping shut, the words on the pages dancing around until she couldn’t focus on any of them. 

Using her bookmark to keep her place, she lay her book on her bedside table and clicked off the light, plunging the room into murky darkness. Weariness soon began lurking at the edges of her mind, until she was more asleep than awake and thoughts had finally stopped whirring round and round her brain. 

That night, Clarke dreamt of fleeting glances and cheeks tinged pink and eyes as green as emeralds.


	3. Chapter 3

Clarke and Lexa soon fell into an easy routine (both protested to their friends that it was just convenient for them to meet by the docks and then walk to work together every day, but everyone knew that there was more to it than that) and a sense of comfortability blossomed that neither one had felt with another person before. 

Lexa would spring out of bed, a smile on her face as the early-morning bird calls filtered in through the windows while she made coffee and got dressed. Clarke was a little less coordinated, often running into her doorframe or tripping over a misplaced shoe, but her smile was as bright as Lexa’s as she thought excitedly about the day to come. They’d meet at the docks at exactly 7:45, Lexa tucking a stray hair behind her ear as she smiled at Clarke shyly, Clarke waving and trying to hide her flushed cheeks, and then they’d set off, talking and laughing and simply enjoying the few minutes they had alone.

Lexa’s favourite thing was when Clarke told her about the dreams she’d had during the night. They were always weird and inexplicable and fascinating, and Lexa hung onto Clarke’s every word while Clarke spoke with animated hands and wide eyes like a child at Christmas. 

Then they’d get to work, both greeting whoever was in the staff room that morning before dumping their stuff in the lockers and getting to work. 

Aside from the turtles, Clarke’s favourite animals to work with were the stingrays. While most of them were housed in a large tank while they recovered from whatever injury had brought them to Polis, there were a few that were kept on their own, mainly because they were small and vulnerable and Gus thought they’d heal faster without the stress of other stingrays around them. 

That’s what led Clarke to finding out about Sponge, a young ray with a damaged barb. His injuries meant that his sting no longer worked, which meant he could never be released back into the wild because he’d be defenceless if faced with a bigger predator. So he took up permanent residence in a large shallow tank that was filled with bright corals, and one of Clarke’s favourite things to do was stop by on her way to lunch and spend some time with Sponge, tickling his belly and watching him splash happily in the salty water. Lexa often spotted Clarke spending time with the ray, and would laugh to herself as she remembered how Clarke had fondly referred to them as “majestic sea pancakes” during her first encounter with them.

But then a day came when Clarke was waiting at their usual meeting spot and Lexa didn’t show up. She waited until 8am and then rushed to work, barrelling into the staff room and almost running into Gus.

“Whoa, Clarke, where’s the fire?”

Clarke took a moment to breathe, lungs burning, before turning her worried eyes onto Gus.

“Lexa didn’t show up to meet me this morning.”

Gus nodded, a sympathetic smile on his face.

“Yeah, she called me about an hour ago. ‘Fraid she’s not coming in today, she’s not feeling too good.”

Clarke felt relief wash over her. Lexa was fine. Nothing terrible had happened. She smiled at Gus as he patted her on the arm.

“She feels bad about leaving you here, mind. Asked me to put you with Murphy today, so you’re not by yourself. That okay?”

“Sure,” Clarke smiled.

“Great. I’ll radio him now.”

As Gus retrieved the radio strapped to his belt, Clarke continued her normal routine, putting her bag into her locker and tying her hair up into a neat ponytail. But her thoughts kept wandering to Lexa, something that Murphy picked up on as they got to work cleaning the dolphin pool.

“What planet are you on today, Clarke?”

Clarke jolted a little, almost dropping her scrubbing brush into the water that lapped around her waist. She was stood on a small metal platform that jutted out into the pool, while the dolphins lazily swam around her, diving down into the depths of the water before resurfacing with a splash and oftentimes a cheeky spurt of water aimed in Clarke’s direction. 

“What?”

Murphy chuckled as he continued to inspect the pool’s filter system.

“You seem distracted. Where’s your head at?”

Clarke said nothing, gripping tighter onto the rim of the pool as she scrubbed.

“Ah.”

This made her look up at him, the knowingness in his voice making her bristle.

“What?”

“It’s okay, I get it,” he smiled.

“You get what, Murphy?”

“The reason you’re being so huffy and mopey. You miss her.” 

He spoke earnestly, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Clarke’s heart clenched, tightening in her chest as she stared at the sponge gripped between her fingers.

“It’s okay, y’know.”

Murphy’s voice softened as he continued to speak.

“It’s okay that you miss her.”

Clarke did nothing but nod, resuming cleaning but with less vigour than before. They kept working up until lunch, when Murphy flashed Clarke a reassuring smile before tilting his head towards the park exit.

“Go on.”

Clarke frowned.

“Go see her. It’s lunch time, Gus won’t mind.”

Shooting a grateful smile his way, she put the cleaning supplies back and raced out to the main road, reaching the dock and passing the rickety fishing yachts bobbing in the water before reaching Lexa’s boat. She hopped onto the deck, pausing outside the thick wooden door before knocking gently. Hearing a groan coming from inside, she rushed in, hurriedly walking through the small kitchen and into the back, through an archway and into a dark bedroom.

“Lexa?”

A shape wiggled a little under the duvet, green eyes peering over the top.

“C– Clarke?” 

Her voice was muffled by the blanket, eyes bleary and red.

“Lexa, what happened?”

Lexa dragged herself up a little, head resting against the backboard as Clarke moved to perch on the edge of the bed.

“Food poisoning. I ate some bad shrimp last night.”

Clarke fought the laugh that bubbled up in her throat, but Lexa noticed the way the blonde’s lips twitched upwards.

“Don’t worry, the irony hasn’t escaped me,” Lexa spoke wryly, her smile growing to match Clarke’s.

But then she was seized with a bout of nausea, face contorting as she leaned over the side of the bed and heaved into a plastic bowl. Clarke rubbed calming circles into her back as Lexa’s body shook, pushing sweat-drenched curls out of Lexa’s face. Lexa sat up a few moments later, water pooling in her eyes.

“Hey, it’s okay,” Clarke soothed, pulling Lexa in for a tender hug, “You’re okay.”

Lexa nestled against Clarke’s body, allowing herself to relax in Clarke’s arms. They stayed like that for a minute or so, Lexa slowing her breathing to match Clarke’s, Clarke feeling Lexa’s heartbeat thump against her chest. Then Lexa pushed herself into a sitting position, worry clouding her eyes.

“Won’t you get in trouble for being here?”

Clarke shook her head. “Murphy’s covering for me with Gus. It’s lunch time, anyway, so I’m not missing anything.”

“Thank you, Murphy,” Lexa smiled, toying with a corner of the duvet.

Clarke shuffled forwards a little, clearing her throat nervously.

“Lexa?”

“Mhmm?”

“When we first met… well, when you first introduced me to Murphy… you said he’d been there for you. I was just wondering… what happened?”

Lexa stiffened a little.

“I don’t mean to pry. I’m just curious, but obviously you don’t have to tell me anything if you don’t want to, just tell me to shut up and I–”

Lexa held up one hand, effectively stopping Clarke’s rambling.

“It’s okay.”

Clarke smiled sheepishly as Lexa brought her hand down to rest on Clarke’s.

“It happened a while ago, around the time when I first started working here.”

Lexa’s breathing hitched; Clarke tightened her grip on Lexa’s trembling hand.

“We became friends pretty fast, and he got comfortable with my parents and I basically became another addition to his foster family.”

Clarke made a mental note to ask Lexa more about Murphy’s background sometime – his kind eyes often seemed to be hiding something, a pain that sometimes clouded his face and made him retreat into himself, and she wanted to know about it, to understand him better. Then her thoughts returned to Lexa as she continued to talk.

“But then, after I’d been here for about a year or so… something happened.” Lexa’s lip quivered. “My little brother, Aden… he was walking down the street with some friends and they were messing around on the sidewalk, play fighting or something. One of them pushed him a little too hard, and he… he fell into the road. The car was going too fast, he couldn’t move out of the way in time…”

She choked on a sob. Clarke’s eyes welled up with tears of sympathy.

“He died a few days later, in the hospital.”

“Lexa, I–,” Clarke’s words died on her tongue. Nothing she wanted to say seemed good enough; instead she just cradled Lexa’s cheek, using her thumb to wipe away the tears that had begun to trickle down her face.

“It was a really difficult time, for me and my parents, and Murphy was just… there. He hung out with me and made me smile, even when I thought my heart would crack open from the pain. He brought us food made by his foster mother and covered for me with Gus when I was too upset to go into work. He became my safe place, a person I knew I could always turn to.”

She spoke around a weak smile as she sniffled, rubbing at her eyes with the back of her hand. Clarke rested her hand on Lexa’s knee, and Lexa found the weight reassuring, like Clarke was keeping her grounded when her emotions threatened to take her too close to the sun.

“God, I’m a mess,” Lexa laughed, scraping her hair back from her flushed face. “Sorry about all this.”

“Don’t be silly,” Clarke smiled. “I’m just glad you’re okay.”

She glanced at the clock on the bedside table, eyebrows raising. This didn’t go unnoticed by Lexa, who also looked at the time, eyes flashing with panic.

“Crap, you’re so late for work! I’m so sorry, Clarke, you should get back before Gus notices.”

Clarke nodded, standing and smoothing out the duvet. 

“Okay, but I’m coming back to check on you later.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Lexa grinned, still-wet cheeks shaded pink.

Clarke quickly placed her hand on Lexa’s forehead, checking her temperature. 

(Clarke may have let her hand linger on Lexa’s skin for a moment longer than was necessary.)

(Lexa may have leant more into Clarke’s touch even though they were only centimetres apart.) 

Then she was gone, shooting Lexa one last smile before heading out into the sunshine and back to the center. She sped through her work for the rest of the day, Murphy watching in amusement as Clarke hopped from one enclosure to the other like her life depended on it. 

Then it was closing time and she was racing to the supermarket, spending less than ten minutes in there before she was on her way to Lexa’s, a carrier bag in each hand. The setting sun glowed on her cooling skin as she walked along the marina, the sea lapping at the wooden beams below her feet. She reached Lexa’s in a matter of minutes, knocking again and waiting for Lexa’s permission before shoving open the door with her shoulder. Lexa was up now, leaning against the kitchen counter with confused eyes as Clarke lugged the plastic bags in.

“What on earth did you bring?”

“Just a few things,” Clarke panted, “Thought they might help you feel a bit better.”

Lexa had to duck her head to hide the way her cheeks blushed violently at Clarke’s words.

“Okay,” she smiled, nibbling on her bottom lip, “Show me then.”

Clarke bent until she was crouched by the bags, pulling out various items and placing them up on the counter.

“Tomato soup,” she declared, “and chicken soup in case you don’t like tomatoes.”

She shifted her weight from one leg to the other before continuing.

“Healthy fruit smoothies, to give you some energy back.”

She placed the bottles next to the pots of soup.

“And, of course, ice cream,” she smiled, pulling out three tubs with a flourish, “But I didn’t know what flavour to get you so I got three.”

“What flavours?” Lexa grinned.

“Cookies and cream, mango and passionfruit, and vanilla, just to be on the safe side.”

“Cookies and cream is my favourite.”

Clarke’s mouth twitched up into a smile.

“Well, I guess it’s perfect, then.”

“Perfect,” Lexa echoed. But she wasn’t looking at the ice cream when she said it.

The next few minutes were spent with them putting the food away, and then Lexa turned to Clarke, hands clasped together.

“So, um, I was just wondering… if you don’t have plans, maybe you’d like to stay and watch a movie? We could share some ice cream, or maybe some soup.”

“Well, now that you’ve offered ice cream, I can hardly refuse, can I?” Clarke spoke, a playful smile tugging at her lips.

Lexa’s heart spluttered in her chest when Clarke’s blue eyes fixed on hers.

“Okay, great. Any movie requests?”

Clarke shook her head.

“Alright, well, you get settled in there,” she gestured with her thumb to the bedroom, “And I’ll find something for us to watch.”

Clarke did as she was told, folding back the rumpled duvet before removing her shoes and clambering over to the right side of the bed, watching the evening sky through the circular window. Lexa returned quickly, clutching a DVD to her chest. She paused when she saw Clarke sitting in her bed (she looked like she just… belonged there?) before forcing herself to tear her eyes away and put the DVD on.

The opening credits started to roll, the light from the TV illuminating their faces. Lexa felt Clarke’s eyes wander to her face a couple of times, and Lexa was fighting the urge to let her eyes do the same. 

About halfway through the movie and Lexa felt her eyes drooping shut, her head falling onto Clarke’s shoulder without her really thinking about it. Clarke’s chest stuttered, and she watched as Lexa snuggled into her, her arm snaking around Clarke’s waist to pull her in even closer.

Clarke wasn’t even trying to watch the film anymore – she could do nothing but stare at Lexa as she relaxed into Clarke, at her gentle slope of her nose and the soft curve of her lips and the way her fingers gripped at Clarke’s hip when Clarke shuffled a little to bring their bodies closer together.

Eyes flicking over to bedside table, Clarke read the numbers that lit up the clock’s face.

21:18.

She knew she had to be up early for work tomorrow, and that Lexa needed to sleep in order to feel better. Slowly, she slid out from under Lexa’s arm, manoeuvring her body out from under Lexa’s and climbing carefully over her and off the bed. She wrapped the duvet around Lexa, leaning over to tuck it around her body more securely. Suddenly she found her face inches from Lexa’s, blue eyes staring into sleepy green.

“Where you goin’?” Lexa mumbled.

“Home, so you can sleep,” Clarke spoke softly, stroking Lexa’s jaw once.

“M’kay, be safe.”

“I will.”

Clarke turned to leave, but was halted by Lexa calling her name.

“See you tomorrow?”

Clarke smiled into the darkness, noting the way her body trembled at the thought of seeing Lexa again.

“Of course, Lex.”

Clarke was certain she heard a small “yay” come from beneath the covers, and then Lexa was asleep, breathing mingling with the quiet splashing of the waves outside. Clarke left after making sure the TV was switched off, walking the ten-minute journey until she reached her home. 

She got into bed that night with a smile on her face, and although she tried her hardest to quieten her mind as she lay there, her thoughts kept returning to the way Lexa’s hand had felt in hers and the way her heart had thudded against her ribcage when Lexa had leaned on her. 

Fuck, she thought, as she tossed and turned, too hyped up to sleep. She was in deep.


	4. Chapter 4

Clarke could barely contain her grin when she saw the familiar figure standing at their meeting spot the next morning. Without giving it much thought, she broke into a run, barrelling into Lexa and throwing her arms around her.

“Hi!”

“Hey, Clarke,” Lexa laughed, joy zapping through her veins as she savoured the feeling of being wrapped in a warm hug.

But then reality hit Clarke and she drew back quickly, face flushing as she averted her gaze and shuffled awkwardly from one foot to the other.

“Um, sorry about that. How’re you feeling?”

Lexa fought the urge to reach up and brush Clarke’s hair behind her ear. Instead, she simply took Clarke’s hand in hers for a moment, smiling softly as she stroked Clarke’s knuckle once before letting go.

“Much better, thanks.”

“That’s good. Did, uh, did the ice cream help?”

“Most definitely,” Lexa smiled.

Clarke let out a breath, feeling some of her worry melt away as she smiled back. A silent beat passed between them.

“Reckon we should go to work before Gus throws us in with the sharks?”

Relaxing as she met Lexa’s gaze, Clarke nodded. Then they set off for Polis, the early-morning sun casting shadows on the ground ahead of them.

“So, guess you were pretty excited to see me, huh?”

“Oh, shut up.”

***

Murphy was already at Polis when they arrived, talking with Gus in the staff room as he bundled his things into his locker. Both men turned when they heard the door opening, Gus smiling as Murphy stood and trotted over to Clarke and Lexa, a big grin on his face.

“I see you rescued her then, huh, Clarke?”

Clarke shot Murphy a warning look, while Lexa pursed her lips, trying not to laugh when Gus waggled his eyebrows cheekily as he walked towards the exit door.

“I hate you all,” Clarke huffed, Lexa chuckling before walking away to retrieve the schedule for the day.

“Nah, you love us.”

“Doubtful.”

“Well, you love Lexa, that’s for sure.”

Clarke froze on her way to the lockers, turning on her heel with a look of indignation on her now-blushing face.

“Shut up, Murphy,” Clarke hissed, glancing over to where Lexa was studying the piece of paper stuck to the wall by the door.

Murphy held up his hands in a show of surrender, shaking his head and still grinning at Clarke.

“Just speaking the truth.”

“Well, don’t.” Clarke’s voice took on a pleading tone. “Just don’t, okay? Please?”

“Alright, alright,” Murphy’s eyebrows pulled together, all teasing gone from his voice. “You, uh, you okay?”

Clarke nodded, plastering a smile on her face when Lexa walked back over to them.

“Alright, everyone ready to start? Clarke, we’re on tropical fish duty this morning. Murphy, you’re with the dolphins again.”

“Nice one,” he beamed, exchanging a high five with Lexa before nodding goodbye to Clarke and making his way out into the main compound.

Clarke forced out a smile when Lexa’s eyes landed on her, trying to swallow the lump that had formed in her throat. She didn’t even know why Murphy’s teasing had bothered her so much – she didn’t love Lexa. Sure, she thought she was cute, and nice, and she made Clarke laugh more than she’d done in a long time… but that didn’t mean it was love, right? 

Whatever it was, Clarke didn’t let herself linger on it as she followed Lexa out through the door and over to the colossal tank that housed over forty-five species of beautiful tropical fish. Clarke’s morning was spent scrubbing windows while Lexa inspected the health of the fish, Clarke losing herself to her thoughts as she absentmindedly wiped the same patch of glass for the fifth time in ten minutes.

She was startled out of her daydreams by a gentle rapping on the glass, and looked up to see Lexa in the tank, keeping herself in place with a few lazy flicks of her flippers. An oxygen mask obscured most of her face, except for her eyes. Clarke found those eyes more captivating than any of the colourful fish that surrounded them, melting a little when Lexa waved to her before swimming away to continue her inspections. 

“Shit,” she muttered to herself, her heart betraying her with each jolt it sent through her body.

Lunchtime rolled around quickly, Clarke shoving her rag into the bucket before tucking it back into the utilities closet in the tropical fish house. She trailed behind Lexa as they walked to the staff lunch area, taking a seat at their usual table.

“Aren’t you getting anything to eat?” Lexa turned, concern in her eyes.

Clarke shook her head, mustering up a weak smile. “You go ahead. I’ll… I’m not hungry.”

“’Kay,” Lexa replied, grabbing a tray from the pile before going over to the food hatch.

Clarke tried not to stare, she really did – but Lexa was wearing a skirt today and the sun was reflecting off her tanned legs and then her shirt rode up when she reached up to fix her hair and Clarke’s eyes landed on soft abs and deliciously smooth skin and god, she had to stop.

Lexa returned a few minutes later, tucking into her sandwich and sipping delicately on her smoothie. Clarke fidgeted as a silence stretched out between them, apparently a lot less comfortable with the quiet than Lexa was. She opened her mouth to speak, intent on breaking the stillness, but was interrupted by a voice floating through the open air.

“Lexa!”

Lexa’s head whipped up, a grin appearing on her face when her eyes came to land on someone behind Clarke. The blonde turned to see a slender woman approaching them, arms held open as Lexa jumped out of her seat and ran into her embrace.

Clarke tried to ignore the jealousy that slithered over her skin and pulled at her heart.

“God, you’re so tan!”

“Your hair’s so long now!” 

“So, how was Europe?!”

Clarke watched the exchange unfold, Lexa holding the woman’s forearms while they spoke in rushed sentences and uncontained laughter. She couldn’t help but notice how attractive the woman was, with her almost-blonde hair and her snarky smile and the intricate tattoos that adorned her arms and legs. And then they were walking towards her and she spun back around in her seat, trying not to look like someone who was just caught staring at what seemed to be quite an intimate situation.

“Anya, this is Clarke. Clarke, Anya,” Lexa gestured, Anya raising one eyebrow as she looked Clarke up and down. Clarke bristled under her gaze, holding up one hand in a limp wave before returning to staring down at her tray.

“Anyway, Lex, I can’t stay long. Just thought I’d pop in and say hi,” Anya’s voice was gravelly, and Clarke’s skin prickled when she heard the affection in Anya’s tone.

“Okay, well, it was lovely to see you, Ahn.”

“You too.”

“We still on for dinner tomorrow night?”

“Totally.”

“’Kay, see you then.”

“Sure thing. See ya,” Anya waved, tacking on a “Nice to meet you” for Clarke before turning and walking back towards the Polis’ car park.

Clarke cleared her throat awkwardly, standing abruptly with her tray in her hands.

“Well, we’d better get back, huh? Those otters aren’t gonna feed themselves.”

Lexa quirked one eyebrow as Clarke shunted her rubbish into the bin before tossing her empty tray onto the pile. 

“Everything okay?”

Clarke’s breath caught momentarily. 

“Yeah, everything’s fine.”

Lexa wanted to argue but sensed Clarke’s unwillingness to speak, so she simply nodded, handing Clarke her tray to add to the pile before leading her to the otter enclosure. Their routine came naturally now – Clarke would feed the otters and Lexa would tend to Wade and perform general health checks while they both talked and joked and made each other laugh.

But today was different. Clarke retrieved the food like it was an anchor weighing her down, throwing the pellets to the animals scurrying at her feet like they were hand grenades. Lexa wanted to maintain her silence and not bug Clarke about what was wrong, but her worry was stronger than her desire to give Clarke space, so she finished checking on Wade and then approached Clarke, taking the bucket gently and placing it on the floor behind her before meeting Clarke’s confused stare.

“Okay, what’s up?”

Clarke tried to feign ignorance, looking at Lexa blankly.

“Clarke, come on. I know something’s wrong.”

“How?” Clarke injected a note of defiance into her voice.

“Because you’re putting the otters on edge,” Lexa pointed to one of them, who was scrabbling in the dirt that was pushed up against the low glass wall, “See? You’re stressing them out, Nancy only does that when she’s stressed.”

Despite her hurt, Clarke wanted to smile. Lexa’s love and concern for the animals was so clear in moments like these, and that only made Clarke like her more.

“Now tell me, what’s going on?”

Raking her hand through her hair, Clarke took a moment before meeting Lexa’s worried expression.

“I… it’s nothing, really.”

Lexa just rolled her eyes, levelling Clarke with a look that was basically impossible for her to resist.

“Okay, okay, but you’re gonna laugh.”

“I won’t.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

Clarke tugged at her sleeves, wrapping them over her clenched fists before continuing.

“Okay, so, um… at lunch, today… there was a girl– I mean, there are a lot of girls around, but she wasn’t one who works here– anyway, she was there and you were there and then you were talking and you both looked like you were in your own little world and I know it’s totally none of my business and it’s nothing to do with me and–”

“Clarke, just say it.”

“Fine,” Clarke tugged on a strand of hair, tucking it behind her ear before pulling it forwards once again to twirl it around her finger. “I guess I just got a bit… jealous.”

Lexa’s eyebrows raised slightly.

“And I know it’s probably really lame and stupid and you probably don’t even care but–”

“Clarke–”

“And I’m sorry if I’ve ruined things or made it awkward between us and I never meant to–”

“Clarke–”

“I guess I just really like having you in my life and I don’t want to lose you as a friend or–”

“Clarke!”

The blonde’s eyes snapped up, locking on Lexa.

“She’s my sister.”

Clarke’s cheeks drained milk-pale and her mouth clamped shut. 

“Yeah, um, she just got back from travelling around Europe and she wanted to come and see me before she goes to see our parents tonight.”

Clarke’s face crumpled in shame.

“Oh my god.”

“It’s okay, Clarke–”

“Oh my god, I’m such an idiot.”

“No, Clarke, it’s alright–”

Clarke backed up a little, hands held out in front of her. “Let’s just forget this ever happened okay we’ll just never talk about it again and then things can go back to how they were and– fuck!”

Clarke’s words were abruptly cut off as she stumbled over the food bucket behind her, arms flailing comically in the air as she tried to keep her balance. Lexa lunged forwards, reaching for Clarke’s arms but grabbing at nothing as Clarke fell out of reach and they were both sent sprawling onto their asses, clothes speckled with bits of bark and food remnants. 

Tension sparked in the air for a moment and then they were laughing, their giggles filling the enclosure as Lexa scrambled to her feet, extending a hand to help Clarke up too. She watched her for a moment, smiling a little when Clarke wiggled her body to dislodge any stray pieces of bark that clung to her trousers.

“Y’know, you’re probably the most stubborn person I’ve ever met.”

“Can’t say that’s the first time I’ve heard that,” Clarke crossed her arms over her chest, still smiling a little. 

But then the atmosphere took on a more sombre air as Clarke’s face dropped.

“I really am sorry, though.” 

Lexa’s lips twitched downwards.

“Why?”

“What?”

“Why are you sorry?”

“Because I let my feelings get in the way and now I might’ve ruined things and–”

“What feelings?”

Clarke froze, watching as Lexa took a tentative step towards her.

“What feelings, Clarke?”

There was something in Lexa’s voice, something urgent, something… desperate. It gave Clarke the push she needed.

“The feelings I have for you.”

Clarke didn’t miss the way Lexa’s chest fluttered after hearing those words. 

“I know we haven’t know each other that long, and this might seem crazy, but I… I like you, Lexa.”

Lexa exhaled deeply, something that looked a lot like relief washing over her face.

“I like you too.”

Clarke blanched, eyes widening.

“You… you do?”

A nod from Lexa was all it took to send a flood of euphoria through Clarke’s veins.

“Well, um, that’s… that’s good.”

They looked at each other for a moment, all awkward smiles and glowing eyes.

“Lexa, I was wondering–”

“There you two are!” Gus’ booming voice seemed to shake the still air that had settled around them. “What d’you think this is, therapy time?”

“No, Gus, we were just–”

“I don’t want excuses, Lexa, just finish up here and get on with the seahorses.”

Lexa winced at his harsh tone, and Clarke was ready to jump in and take the blame when he turned to Lexa and winked, murmuring, “Letting the criminal be a bad influence, eh, Lex?” 

Clarke watched a smile grow on Lexa’s face as she stuck her tongue out at him, Gus retaliating with an over-exaggerated gasp as he walked away. 

***

They worked non-stop until closing time, the air once again filled with laughter and easy conversation. Things seemed fine between them, but Clarke was antsy, and it was with anxious eyes and a nervous smile that she approached Lexa while they were packing away their equipment at the end of the day.

She had planned this in her head – what she was going to say, how she was going to say it. But all coherence flew out of her mind when she was faced with Lexa’s earnest smile and those captivating eyes.

“Goonadatewithme?”

The corner of Lexa’s mouth twitched up as she cocked one eyebrow. Clarke glanced down at her shoes, cursing herself internally before meeting Lexa’s gaze once more, this time taking her time when speaking.

“Sorry. What I meant to say was… would you like to go on a date with me, Lexa?”

Silence. 

A heartbeat. 

A breath. 

“I thought you’d never ask.”


	5. Chapter 5

Clarke had never wanted teleportation to be a reality so much until now.

“I need you guys here!” she whined, holding a dress in each hand as she stood in front of her webcam. “It’s not the same when the outfit’s all pixelated and shit.”

“Clarke, calm down,” Raven chuckled, as Octavia leaned closer to the screen to get a better look.

“I pick the blue one.”

Clarke glanced down at the chosen dress, holding it up against her body.

“You sure?”

“Hm, I dunno,” Raven mused, “The blue one makes your ass look great, but the red one really brings out your boobs.”

“Jeez, Ray, you’re such a romantic.”

“That’s why I’m such a hit with the ladies.”

“Oh please, the only reason you got with Octavia was because she had the guts to ask you out while you were flailing like a fish out of water.”

“Okay, that is so not true.”

“It kinda is, babe.”

“Whatever you say.”

Clarke rolled her eyes, dress still pressed up against her body.

“Regardless of who made the first move–”

“It was definitely me–”

“ _Regardless,_ ” Clarke silenced Raven with a glare, “You two don’t have to worry about that crap anymore because you’re together. Meanwhile if I don’t pick a nice outfit for tonight then Lexa’s not going to want to go out with me again and I’ll be doomed to spending an eternity living in you guys’ basement with twelve cats and a lifetime subscription to Gardener’s Weekly.”

“Someone’s given that a lot of thought.”

“Well, she’s been single for a while now, I guess.”

“Thanks guys, I get it.”

“Sorry, sorry,” Octavia grinned sheepishly. “Come on, show us these dresses again.”

“Are you going to take it seriously now?”

Octavia nodded, nudging Raven, who held up her right hand, scout’s-honour style.

“Cross my heart.”

“Alright. So there’s the blue one, or the red one, but I also have this white dress that I like…”

***

“Seriously, just pick something.”

Anya’s voice cut through Lexa’s panic as she rifled through the clothes that were piled up in a heap on her bed.

“I will,” Lexa grunted, wrestling a cardigan out of the pile before tossing it over her shoulder, “As soon as I find something appropriate.”

“It’s just a date, Lex. As long as you don’t go naked, anything you wear will be ‘appropriate’”, Anya air-quoted, sighing as Lexa continued her frantic search.

But Anya could sense when she was fighting a losing battle with her sister and so she conceded, settling back against the headboard with a defeated huff. Seventeen minutes later and Lexa had settled on three outfit contenders, which she was now reviewing with her bottom lip gripped between her teeth.

“See, those trousers are nice… but that shirt doesn’t go with them and I really like that shirt… but if I wear _that_ jacket then I can wear my nice red shoes–”

“I think you’re really brave, y’know.”

Lexa stiffened at the sound of Anya’s voice.

“I know you don’t like it when I say stuff like that, and usually I wouldn’t, but…”

Anya sat up, watching Lexa’s eyebrows knit together as she avoided her gaze.

“After all that happened, with you and Costia–”

“Don’t.”

“Look, I’m just saying–”

“I said, don’t.”

“Okay, Lex. Sorry.”

Lexa took a deep breath as she perched on the bed beside Anya, “It’s okay. It’s just… this is the first time in a really long time that I’ve felt… I don’t wanna mess things up with depressing ex-girlfriend stuff.”

Anya nodded understandingly. “You don’t have to explain yourself to me. I just want you to be happy.”

She paused, watching Lexa.

“Does Clarke make you happy?”

Lexa took a moment before meeting Anya’s worried eyes. “I think she could, yeah.”

This seemed to relax her sister, who slumped back against the pillows with a small smile.

“Then that’s all that matters.”

This prompted a small smile from Lexa, but this was quickly wiped off her face when she glanced at the clock.

“Crap, she’s gonna be here in like twenty minutes!”

Anya sprang into action, helping Lexa sift through the numerous outfits until they’d settled on something she was happy with. Long black trousers that cinched at the waist, completed by simple black heels and a flowy white blouse.

“You look beautiful,” Anya smiled.

“You’re my sister, you have to say that,” Lexa laughed.

“I mean it, though.”

“I know. Thanks, Ahn.”

“Anyway, I’d better go. Don’t want her getting jealous again, do we?” Anya smirked.

“I’m really gonna regret telling you that, aren’t I?”

“Probably.”

“Fantastic.”

“Seriously though, Lex, have an amazing time.”

Lexa smiled softly as Anya briefly took her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

“And remember: have fun.”

“Yeah, yeah, okay mum.”

Anya laughed as Lexa herded her towards the door.

“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!” Anya called as she stepped from the boat onto the rickety dock.

“That doesn’t leave much out!” Lexa quipped, laughing as she heard a faint “Fuck off!” float in from outside.

Then she was alone and staring at the clock, watching the minutes melt into seconds as her date with Clarke ticked closer and closer. She wasn’t nervous. She wasn’t. She was fine.

A knock sounded at the door.

Oh crap.

***

Lexa pulled open the door slowly, ready to greet Clarke with a warm welcome. But the words were snatched away from her when she saw the blonde, leaning against the doorframe in a figure-hugging white dress that showed off her sumptuous curves in a way that made Lexa’s mouth water.

“Wow. I mean… I just… wow.”

“Hello to you, too,” Clarke smirked, watching Lexa flush as she trailed her eyes up and down her body. “You look amazing, Lexa.”

“Thank you. You look… you’re breath-taking.”

Clarke’s smile grew as Lexa’s eyes shone with awe. “So, shall we get going?”

“Yeah, uh, yes. Just let me grab my purse and, um, yeah…”

Clarke chuckled at Lexa’s babbling, finding that it somehow made her even more endearing. Lexa joined her on the small deck of the boat a minute later, stopping to admire Clarke once more. Without thinking, Lexa reached out and gently ran her fingertips along Clarke’s exposed collarbone, flushing when she felt Clarke’s breath hitch beneath her skin. Clarke took a step closer, staring at Lexa’s lips which were pouty and trembling and she wanted nothing more than to kiss her right there.

But then Lexa dropped her hand and moved back slightly, tugging at her blouse and smoothing out non-existent wrinkles.

“We should, um… the reservation…”

Clarke nodded before turning to the dock, but stopped momentarily when she felt Lexa’s fingers intertwine with her own. She glanced down at their joined hands, heart fluttering when Lexa brushed her thumb over Clarke’s knuckle.

Then they began walking, the air heavy with silence until Clarke stumbled over a crack in the sidewalk, and then the quiet was broken, their short walk to the restaurant filled with soft laughter and gentle smiles and the illuminating glow of the moon in the night sky.

***

Clarke paused when they reached the restaurant, eyes sweeping over the small red-brick building that was nestled against a rocky outcrop that overlooked the sea.

“I know it’s nothing fancy, but–”

“I love it.”

“…You do?”

“Mhmm.”

“Well, okay then,” Lexa smiled shyly, “Let’s go.”

They were greeted by a pretty young waitress as they entered the small foyer, her gaze lingering on Clarke for a moment longer than was necessary as she showed them to their table. But Clarke only had eyes for Lexa, holding out the chair for the brunette before taking a seat opposite her.

“Can I get you two anything to drink?”

Clarke looked at Lexa, who was studying the menu with such concentration that she barely heard the waitress speak. Her focus was broken when Clarke reached out and began tracing shapes on the back of Lexa’s hand, the menu slipping a little as her hand jerked.

“Sorry, what?”

“She, um,” Clarke glanced at the waitress’ name badge, “Niylah, here, asked if we wanted some drinks.”

“Oh. Well, what do you like?” Lexa looked at Clarke so earnestly and sweetly, Clarke was sure she was going to melt into a puddle right there.

“Wine? Red, if that’s okay.”

“A bottle of red for the table, please,” Lexa nodded at Niylah, who replied with “Great choice” before scurrying back to the kitchen.

“Someone’s got a thing for you, I think,” Lexa smirked.

Clarke’s eyes widened. “Who, the waitress?”

A nod from Lexa.

“Nah, no way.”

“Trust me, I saw the way she was looking at you.”

“Oh yeah?” Clarke smiled, meeting Lexa’s teasing eyes. “And what way was that?”

“Same way I looked at you when I first saw you.”

Clarke was not expecting those words to leave Lexa’s mouth and could do nothing but gape at her for a second.

“I didn’t think it was possible for you to be speechless.”

“Ha ha,” Clarke retorted dryly, leaning back in her chair with her arms crossed over her chest. “Not speechless. Just a bit… surprised. I thought you didn’t like me when we first met.”

Lexa’s eyebrows raised slightly. “You did? Why?”

“Well, you caught me illegally sneaking in to your turtle pool, so I figured you wouldn’t be too happy with me about that.”

“Understandably so,” Lexa smirked.

“Alright, alright,” Clarke laughed, “I already got an earful from my mum about this when I told her, I don’t need a lecture from you too.”

“Oh?” Lexa leaned forward slightly, shooting a quick “thanks” to Niylah as she placed a bottle of wine in the centre of the table along with two wine glasses.

“Yeah, she, uh, wasn’t too happy about me “wasting my time with this community service crap when I should be studying for my future as a doctor.”

“You want to be a doctor?”

“No,” Clarke scoffed, taking a sip of wine, “But she wants me to. That’s one of the reasons why I moved here. Freedom to do what I want, without her constantly watching me and telling me what I’m doing wrong.”

Lexa’s eyebrows pulled together sympathetically. “So you don’t get on with her?”

“I used to,” Clarke deflated a little, “But then, uh, my dad died, and…”

Lexa’s eyes shot up, green sparking with blue.

“Oh, Clarke. I’m so sorry.”

She reached across the table, covering Clarke’s hand with her own.

“Thanks. It’s okay though, I mean, it happened when I was pretty young, so I don’t really remember much.”

Stroking soft circles into Clarke’s skin, Lexa leaned closer.

 “Clarke, I had no idea–”

“It’s okay,” Clarke soothed with a small smile, “You don’t have to say anything.”

They immersed themselves in the quiet for a moment, Lexa holding Clarke’s hand and Clarke holding Lexa’s gaze.

“Are you ready to order?” Niylah’s voice broke the silence, and Clarke began rooting through her menu in a frenzy when she realised that she hadn’t even looked at the first page yet.

“I’ll have the pesto ravioli, please, with a side of grilled vegetables,” Lexa spoke confidently, handing Niylah her menu.

“Y’know what? That sounds amazing, I’ll have the same.”

“Don’t you want to try something else?” Lexa smiled.

“I’m perfectly happy with you. I mean, your choice,” Clarke shook her head, biting her lip in an attempt to hide her grin.

“Okay, we’ll have that with you as soon as possible.”

Clarke thanked Niylah with a smile before turning back to Lexa.

“So, how did you end up working at Polis?”

“I kind of have my parents to thank for that, actually,” Lexa smiled. “They always encouraged my passion for animals, always told me I could do whatever I wanted as long as I worked hard and didn’t give up.”

Clarke smiled, urging Lexa to go on with an encouraging nod.

“I always loved going to Polis with Murphy, seeing the animals and watching them get better. And then what happened with Aden… happened, and hanging out at the centre kind of helped me through that. Gus was an old friend of my parents – been around since before I was born – and he knew how badly I wanted to work there, so he waited until I’d finished high school and then he offered me a job.”

Clarke smiled at the obvious joy in Lexa’s voice.

“So this is what you’ve always wanted to do? Help injured animals?”

“Yeah. It just made sense,” Lexa shrugged, “I mean, I’ve never really been much of a people-person, and ever since I was little I felt a strong connection with animals, especially marine animals, with growing up here and being basically surrounded by them.”

“Like Free Willy, huh?”

“Yeah, but without the cheesy corporate bad guys who always want to ruin everything,” Lexa laughed, cheeks turning rosy when Clarke giggled. “So what did you do before you moved here?”

Clarke sat up a little, resting her arms on the table.

“Well, you know I lived in New York” – Lexa nodded – “And then all that stuff happened with my dad and things… changed. My mum and I drifted apart and then I went away to university for three years to study music, and when I went back home, it just… didn’t feel much like home anymore.”

She shuffled in her seat, rearranging her napkin on her lap.

“So I figured it was time for a new start and I moved here. Raven and Octavia weren’t too happy about that, but,” she shrugged, “I had to do what felt right for me.”

“Raven and Octavia?”

“Oh! My best friends. We’ve all known each other since we were like ten or something, they’re one of those couples who went from ‘childhood friends’ to ‘high school sweethearts’ to ‘madly in love and obviously going to be together forever’. It’s maddening.”

“Sounds positively awful,” Lexa teased, laughing when Clarke pouted and rolled her eyes.

“You have no idea.”

“They sound nice, though.”

“Yeah? Wait until you meet them,” Clarke laughed. “Raven prides herself on seeing how long it takes for her to piss someone off.”

“Sounds challenging.”

“That’s an understatement.”

“I like a challenge.”

Clarke’s mouth turned dry as Lexa fixed her with an intense stare. She took a gulp of wine, cheeks flushing when Niylah materialised beside their table with their food. Lexa stayed entirely composed the entire time, smiling politely and refilling Clarke’s glass with flair.

“You’re bad.”

“Oh?”

“Mhmm. Really bad.”

“Doesn’t sound like you mind too much?”

“Definitely not.”

Clarke grinned over the rim of her glass, pursing her lips more than necessary as she sipped the rich crimson drink. Lexa’s eyes watched as Clarke’s throat constricted with each swallow, overcome with a sudden desire to kiss up the column of Clarke’s neck until she reached her lips.

“So… you’re a musician?”

“Guitarist and singer, yeah.”

“Maybe you could play me something sometime.”

“…I’d love to.”

And then the tension eased when Lexa picked up her fork, spearing a piece of ravioli with a flourish that had Clarke laughing around a mouthful of grilled asparagus. This set a precedent for the rest of the night, which was comprised of copious amounts of laughter and talking along with another bottle of wine and two glasses of champagne (Lexa’s treat).

Two hours passed in the blink of an eye, and then they were shrugging on jackets and exchanging flirty glances as Lexa held the door open for Clarke and they walked out into the cool night air. A shiver snuck over Clarke’s skin. Lexa noticed, snaking an arm around Clarke and pulling her body to hers.

“That was… I had a lovely time,” Clarke breathed, looking up at Lexa.

“Me too,” smiled Lexa, squeezing Clarke’s hip as they began walking along the seafront.

They stopped at a low wall that faced the water, Lexa swinging her legs over it before helping Clarke scramble up beside her. Her arm went back around Clarke and Clarke nestled into Lexa, laying her head on her chest. It took everything in Lexa’s power not to explode into stardust and float away into the sky when she felt Clarke press a soft kiss to her shoulder.

Clarke sat up then, scooting over until her body was pressed against Lexa’s. The stars were dappled in the sky and they reflected onto the sea like dashes of glitter. For a moment the two of them just sat, staring up at the night sky and listening to the waves leaving kisses on the sand.

“So beautiful”, Clarke murmured, blue eyes shimmering in the crystal moonlight.

“Yeah, it is,” Lexa whispered.

But she wasn’t looking at the sky when she said it.


	6. Chapter 6

Lexa walked with Clarke back to her apartment after they finished stargazing, leaving her with a quick kiss on the cheek before bidding her goodnight. The smile didn’t leave Clarke’s face as she made her way to her front door, rooting around in her bag for her phone as she swung the door shut behind her.

**(7 new messages)**

She dumped her bag on the floor, throwing herself onto the sofa before opening the texts.

**Raven: Have fun on your date tonight!**

**Raven: Don’t spill food on yourself or anything.**

**Raven: Although it would be hilarious if you did.**

**Raven: You so owe me if that dress gets you laid.**

**Raven: Oh, and Octavia says good luck.**

**Raven: Skype us when you get back, we wanna hear all about it!**

**Raven: Unless you’re, uh, busy, in which case you can call us tomorrow. ;)**

Clarke let out a laugh as she turned and grabbed her laptop from the coffee table, balancing it on her chest before logging into Skype. The dial tone sounded for a few seconds and then she was met with Raven and Octavia’s grinning faces.

“There she is!”

“Someone looks happy.”

“Come on then, tell us everything!”

“Okay, okay,” Clarke chuckled, wiggling a little until she was propped up against the sofa cushions. “It was really fun.”

“Fun? That’s all you’re giving us?”

“Raven, give her some time to breathe, she only just got in.”

“I know, but this is a big deal!”

“And I’m sure Clarke knows that.”

“Uh, guys… I’m right here,” Clarke interjected, smiling when Raven grinned sheepishly.

“Sorry, Griff. You were saying?”

Clarke launched into a re-telling of the night, leaving out no details. Octavia’s “oohs” and “aahs” chimed in at all the right moments, while Raven filled the role of snarky best friend perfectly, with flawless eye rolls and appropriate groans at all of the grossly adorable parts. Octavia pointed out the love-struck look that had been in Clarke’s eyes all evening, and Clarke could only giggle and blush in response.

“Oh my god, you’re SO whipped for this girl, Griff.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know.”

“It’s great, though. We’re really happy for you, Clarke,” Octavia smiled, eyes shining with affection.

“Yeah, it’s pretty fantastic,” Raven agreed.

“Hold on, did Raven just say something without making it into a joke? Something serious must have happened,” Clarke winked.

“Actually…” Octavia shuffled in her seat a little, “There is something we need to tell you.”

“Oh?” Clarke leaned closer to the screen.

“Yeah, uh… well, we’ve been together for a while now, and we’re basically together all the time anyway so we figured why not…”

Clarke’s eyes widened. “Wait. You’re not getting married, are you?!”

“No, Clarke,” Raven laughed, “But, um… we are moving in together.”

Clarke jumped so violently that her laptop almost slipped off her lap and onto the floor.

“What?! That’s fucking amazing! I’m so excited for you two.”

 “Really? Bellamy wasn’t quite as enthusiastic when we told him the news,” Octavia muttered.

“Babe, come on. You know that’s only because he’s mad that he won’t be your roommate anymore. He’s happy for us, you know he is.”

Raven took Octavia’s hand, brushing a kiss to her knuckles before turning back to the webcam.

“And if he does say anything, I’ll sort him out,” Clarke grinned, winking over-exaggeratedly.

“See, O? Nothing to worry about,” Raven chuckled.

Another hour or so passed, mainly filled with talk about which kind of dog Raven wanted to adopt and the list of reasons why they should definitely get more than one (“otherwise it’ll be lonely when we go out!”)

Then Clarke was saying goodnight, shutting her laptop and placing it back on the coffee table before heading into the bathroom. She looked at herself in the mirror for a moment, turning her head from side to side. She imagined Lexa standing beside her, imagined them brushing their teeth together and having water fights by the sink and giving each other minty kisses. The thought put a smile on her face (she’d been smiling a lot lately) and she climbed into bed dozily, flopping back onto her pillows and losing herself to sleep almost instantly.

***

Clarke met Lexa for their walk to work as usual the next morning, but things felt different. Not in a bad way, Clarke noted, but in a way in which everything felt… heightened. Now they were hyper-aware of each other’s movements, skin tingling each time they brushed past each other, unable to keep the smiles off their faces as they tended to the animals. Their eyes kept meeting across the enclosures, and they giggled and blushed like schoolkids.

Murphy noticed this, of course, and couldn’t help but tease them relentlessly about being so sickeningly cute. Lexa just rolled her eyes and waved him away, laughing when he made an outline of a heart in the air with his hands.

Lexa then returned to her current task of checking the health of the penguins, while Clarke was on cleaning duty. Currently Clarke was scrubbing the floor with a broom, trying to dislodge any dirt that had become ingrained over the past week, and she was so focused on her chore that she failed to spot the sliver of fish just behind her foot. Her shoe came down on it and then she slipped off the icy bank and into the freezing water, the penguins squawking in alarm as Clarke flailed helplessly.

“Clarke!” Lexa’s voice was thick with panic as she dove to her knees and reached out for Clarke's hands, dragging the blonde to the end of the pool that sloped up on an incline. She pulled Clarke’s trembling body up the slope before radioing Murphy, her hands shaking as she babbled about blankets and hypothermia.

Then she sat with Clarke on the dry bank, heart clattering in her chest as she cradled Clarke’s head in her lap. The blonde’s breaths were escaping her lungs in stilted gasps, and Lexa felt like she was going to burst with anxiety until finally Murphy came running, two thick blankets piled up in his arms. They wrapped Clarke up before getting her to her feet, Lexa slinging one arm around her shoulder while Murphy took hold of the other, basically carrying her to the (thankfully empty) staff room. They propped Clarke up on a bench – she was shivering and her teeth were chattering, lips more blue than pink – and Lexa’s hands were gentle as she wrapped the blanket more securely around Clarke’s shaking frame.

“Hey, hey, you’re okay”, Lexa’s voice was soft as she crouched in front of Clarke, reaching up to place her palm flat against Clarke’s cheek.

Clarke leaned a little into her touch, lips quivering as her eyes fluttered open.

“Lex– Lexa…”

“Shhh, I’m here. I’m here,” Lexa soothed.

Murphy rushed back in a few seconds later with a couple more blankets, Lexa muttering her thanks before wrapping one around Clarke’s legs and placing the other one around her own damp shoulders. Then she perched next to Clarke on the bench, taking the blonde’s icy hands in her own and rubbing them to warm them up.

“Better?”

Clarke nodded a little, leaning her head on Lexa’s shoulder with a shaky sigh.

Lexa distractedly hoped Clarke couldn’t hear the way her heart was thumping in her chest when the blonde’s hair tickled her neck.

Murphy radioed Gus, telling him what had happened and asking him what they should do. Gus insisted that Clarke take the rest of the day off, and Lexa jumped in, vowing that she was more than happy to take Clarke home. Gus agreed, and so Lexa stood, helping Clarke to her feet before wrapping an arm around Clarke’s waist to steady her.

“Ready?”

Another nod from Clarke and then they were heading to the exit, Lexa shooting Murphy a grateful smile as he handed Clarke’s bag to Lexa and held the door open for them. They ambled along slowly, Clarke regaining some awareness as the afternoon sun warmed her creaking bones. She managed to direct Lexa to her apartment, mainly using hand gestures, and a short while later they came to a stop outside a block of flats sat above a liquor store.

Lexa rooted around in Clarke’s bag until she found her keys, unlocking the door before helping Clarke up the stairs and through the door to her own apartment. Lexa couldn’t help but notice how cute and cosy the place was; just so _Clarke._

Leading Clarke to the sofa, she lay her down before tucking the blankets firmly around her. Clarke was now looking up at Lexa through half-closed eyes, a tiny smile on her face.

“Your turn to take care of me, huh?” Clarke’s voice was gravelly, and she winced as a shiver shot through her body.

“D’you have a hot water bottle anywhere?”

Clarke pointed to the kitchen, mumbling “top cupboard” through her juddering teeth. Lexa busied herself with boiling the kettle, not wasting any time between the click that signalled that the water was done and pouring it into the red rubber case.

She took it over to Clarke, sliding it onto her stomach beneath the blanket, panic easing slightly when Clarke clutched the hot water bottle to her chest with an appreciative smile. Lexa perched next to her on the sofa, smoothing Clarke’s damp hair off her forehead and letting her thumb trail down Clarke’s temple until it was resting just above her jaw.

“How’re you feeling?”

“Still a little cold,” Clarke breathed.

“Here,” Lexa shuffled round until she was sitting parallel with Clarke, lifting Clarke’s head gently so she could wrap her arm around her. She pulled Clarke’s body close to hers, Clarke snuggling into Lexa’s chest with a contented sigh. They stayed like that for about fifteen minutes, until Lexa was sure that Clarke had fallen asleep. Planning on slipping out quietly and leaving Clarke to rest, Lexa slowly pulled her arm out from under Clarke, swinging her legs off the couch. But before she could stand she was stopped by a hand on her arm. She turned back, surprised to see Clarke sitting up beside her.

“Clarke, what are you–”

But her words were silenced when Clarke took her face in her hands, staring into Lexa’s eyes for a moment before leaning in with pursed lips. Lexa could see the fear still etched onto Clarke’s face, could see how her lips trembled and her closed eyes fluttered and her jaw clenched. And, despite how badly she wanted to, she knew now wasn’t the right time for the two of them to share their first kiss.

So she quickly stood up, Clarke’s hands falling to her side as she stared up at Lexa, eyes clouded with hurt.

“Oh.”

“Clarke, listen–”

“Oh, wow.”

“Clarke–”

“I’m such an idiot.”

“No, you’re not.” Lexa took a step forward but Clarke shrunk back. Pain jolted in Lexa’s chest. “I’m sorry, I just don’t think that now’s–”

“I can’t believe I misread things so badly.”

Lexa’s eyebrows pulled together. “What? No, Clarke, it’s not like that–”

“I thought you liked me.”

“Clarke, please–”

Clarke let out a mirthless laugh. “Just get out.”

“Wait, let’s talk about this–”

“What’s there to talk about?”

“What just happened. This. Us.”

“From the looks of things, there is no ‘us’.”

“Clarke–”

“Just go, please.”

Lexa saw the tears welling up in Clarke’s eyes, saw the hurt emerging through the cracks in her angry façade.

“Please don’t do this.”

“I want you to go.”

A beat of silence resonated between them.

“I said _go_ , Lexa. I don’t want you here.”

Clarke’s harsh words were weakened by her broken voice, but Lexa knew that nothing she could say would make things better in that moment. So she left, tears pricking at her eyes as she ran all the way home, racing past Polis until she reached her boat. She didn’t bother taking off her shoes or jacket; simply curled into a ball on her bed, trying desperately to focus on the waves that rocked the boat gently from side to side and not on how it felt like her heart was splintering with each breath she took.


	7. Chapter 7

“You’re late.”

“I know.”

“You’re never late.”

“So?”

“So cut the crap, Lexa,” Gus crossed his arms over his chest as he watched Lexa walk over to her locker, shoulders hunched over.

“I’m fine.”

“No, you’re not.”

Lexa turned to him, a watery smile on her face. “I’m okay, Gus. Don’t worry about it.”

He opened his mouth to argue again but could see the steely stubbornness in Lexa’s eyes; he knew when he had lost a battle with her.

“Okay, okay. Just… get to work, then.”

Lexa gave him a quick nod, taking a deep breath before opening the main door and heading out into the already-bustling crowds. She planned on just keeping her head down and getting her work done, but that plan flew out of the window as soon as she saw Clarke, already hard at work in the sea lion enclosure. She hurried over, dropping the bucket and broom she had been holding so she could grasp the low glass wall that wrapped around the habitat.

“Clarke.”

The blonde’s shoulders stiffened. She turned to face Lexa slowly, eyes alight with anger.

“I need to talk to you.”

“No.”

“Please, Clarke.”

“I have work to do.”

“Clarke, wait–”

But she didn’t want to wait. Her heart still stung from Lexa’s rejection last night and she didn’t feel like dealing with any more pain. So she backed off, tearing her eyes away from Lexa’s and not looking back as she returned to her task.

“Fuck.” Lexa hastily wiped the tears from her eyes as she stormed away, grabbing her walkie talkie from her belt. “Murphy, I need you.”

He met her ten minutes later behind Penguin Paradise, his eyebrows pulled together in confusion.

“What’s up?”

“I need your help,” Lexa panted, eyes wild with determination.

“O-kay. With what?”

“Clarke.”

Murphy straightened up a little. “Y’know, I was gonna ask: what’s up with you two? You’re acting super off with each other, it’s weird.”

“Not the time, Murph. I just need you to help me get her somewhere we can talk. Alone. But she can’t know it’s me or she won’t go.”

Murphy nodded. “Whatever you need.”            

“Thank you,” Lexa smiled for the first time that day. “Alright, so I need you to radio Clarke at lunch time and say that Gus needs her in the dolphin food room.”

“On it.”

“Great. Hopefully she won’t– hopefully it goes well.”

She turned to leave the small room, but was halted by Murphy’s hand on her elbow.

“Lex?”

She turned to face him. “Yeah?”

“It’ll be okay.”

The sincerity and love in his eyes made her heart swell. She stepped forward, wrapping him in a hug.

“Thanks, Murphy,” she whispered, as his arms tightened around her for a moment before letting go.

Then she was gone, and Murphy was left alone in the quiet room with only the crackle of the radio in his hand.

***

Lexa had been waiting in the food room for a little over twenty minutes after their lunch break began when Clarke came bustling in, arms overflowing with buckets.

“I got here as soon as I could, Gus. What do you nee–”

“Uh, hey, Clarke.”

Clarke’s eyes narrowed. “What are you doing here?”

“I– Murphy called you here for me. But wait, Clarke!” Lexa reached forward, stopping Clarke from walking out. “Let me explain.”

Clarke put the buckets down, hands coming up to rest on her hips. Lexa stared at her, mouth dry and heart pounding.

“Go on then. Explain.”

Lexa had worked out everything she had wanted to say to Clarke, every word mapped out and arranged perfectly. But now that she was looking at her, seeing the hurt in Clarke’s eyes; all she wanted to do was cry. But this wasn’t about her. It was about Clarke, and Lexa needed to fix this.

“First of all, you need to know how sorry I am.”

Clarke shuffled from one foot to the other.

“I never meant to– hurting you was the last thing I ever wanted to do, I swear. Especially over something… something I’ve wanted to do for a really long time now.”

Clarke raised her head, meeting Lexa’s desperate gaze.

“That almost kiss… having you so close to me, and spending that time with you… it was magical. And I’m so sorry that I fucked it all up, Clarke, but it’s not what you think.”

Clarke’s eyebrows raised.

“It’s not that I didn’t want to kiss you,” Lexa’s voice cracked a little. “And when we fought… believe me, that’s the opposite of how I saw that situation playing out. But you were injured, and confused, and I didn’t want to– I was worried that you might end up regretting it.”

Now it was Clarke who was crying, quiet hiccups jolting through her chest as she watched Lexa through tear-glazed eyes.

“The truth is, Clarke… I like you.”

Clarke couldn’t deny the spark of joy that zapped through her heart after hearing those words.

“I like you a lot, and I’m so angry at myself for ruining everything. You had a rough night, and I wanted to be sure you were okay before we–”

“You like me.”

Clarke’s words were hushed and wrapped in a tiny smile, like she was telling Lexa a secret.

“Of course I like you, doofus,” Lexa smiled, taking a small step towards Clarke. “Isn’t it obvious? I don’t flirt with every girl I meet at the turtle pool, y’know.”

“Well, how do I know that?” Clarke’s voice had a playful tone to it now, and Lexa could feel her shoulders release some of the tension she’d been carrying with her all day.

“You’re just going to have to trust me.”

Lexa’s voice was low, and shaky, and it was with trembling hands that she reached out, cupping Clarke’s cheek.

“I want you, Clarke.”

Their lips were agonisingly close.

“Tell me if you want me to stop.”

Just one more move, and–

“Wait.”

Lexa pulled back, eyes searching Clarke’s.

“I owe you an explanation too.”

“For what?” Lexa frowned.

“For me. The way I acted. It was a little… you didn’t deserve that.”

Taking Clarke’s hands in her own, Lexa motioned for her to continue with a nod.

“It’s just that… I’ve had some issues in the past, with trust. People have lied to me a lot, and… it kinda left a mark on me. And when you rejected me… I don’t know, I guess it made me feel like you hadn’t been interested in me at all, that whole time? It sounds stupid, I know…”

“It’s not stupid, Clarke,” Lexa spoke softly, tracing circles on Clarke’s knuckles. “It makes a lot of sense. But trust me, I was interested. I _am_ interested.”

Clarke stared into Lexa’s eyes, searching for a trace of uncertainty. But there was none. Only pure, unbridled adoration. She tried to speak around the lump in her throat, but the words kept tumbling down into her stomach.

“It’s okay, Clarke,” Lexa soothed, moving closer once more. “We’ll go one step at a time.”

Clarke nodded, smiling at Lexa through her tears. Lexa simply stood before her, hands now hanging at her sides. Waiting for Clarke. It was then that she realised that, no matter how long it took, she’d wait for Clarke. She’d wait a week, or a month, or six years if she had to. She’d wait until her dying breath, as long as it meant that she could be with Clarke and show her the love and affection that she deserved and–

Clarke’s lips were softer than Lexa had even imagined. Lexa’s breath left her body in a quiet “whoosh” as Clarke kissed her without warning, her hands wrapping around Lexa’s body to pull her in closer. Their lips stayed pressed together for a moment, Clarke cradling Lexa’s face with feather-light touches.

(Clarke was like bright sunshine and fresh ocean air.)

(Lexa was like a cool summer breeze and a crackling fire.)

Then Clarke pulled away a little and Lexa giggled (just when Clarke thought she couldn’t get any cuter, she did), ducking her head and blushing when Clarke placed a chaste kiss to her forehead.

“Wow.”

“Wow, indeed.”

They could do nothing but smile at each other for a second, Lexa’s hands gently holding Clarke’s hips while Clarke wove her arms around Lexa’s neck. Then the comfortable silence was shattered by the loud crackle of Lexa’s radio and Murphy’s panicked voice coming in over the airwaves.

“Lex– AHHH! Damn it, Mango! Lexa, I could really use some help over here with the dolphins. And bring Clarke, I need all hands on deck for this one.”

“It’s always Murphy,” Lexa chuckled, shaking her head. “Come on then, beautiful.”

She lightly pulled Clarke towards the door, but Clarke held tightly onto her hand and tugged her back, spinning Lexa around and bringing them nose-to-nose.

“Clarke,” Lexa warned, “What are you doing?”

“Just making sure you’re okay,” Clarke said, voice dripping with innocence. She leaned in then, capturing Lexa’s lips with her own. This kiss was more intense than the first, Lexa gasping into Clarke’s mouth as the blonde bit on her lower lip. Then Clarke pulled back without any warning, grinning up at Lexa.

“Okay, you’re good.”

“You’re such a fucking tease.”

“You love it, Lex.”

“Just shut up and come.”

“Only if you say that to me again in bed later.”

Lexa spluttered as she failed to find a response to this, Clarke laughing at the way her eyes bulged comically out of her head.

“Damn, you’re cute. Come on then, let’s go before Murphy loses his shit.”

Lexa took a deep breath, rolling her eyes as Clarke blew her a kiss.

“I swear, you’re going to be the death of me, Clarke Griffin.”

“That’s ironic, because I feel more alive than I’ve ever felt when I’m with you, Lexa Woods.”

“Wow”, Lexa laughed, “And I thought I was corny.”

“I guess you bring it out in me,” Clarke grinned, kissing Lexa on the cheek.  “We’ll talk more later, okay?” she murmured, before leading Lexa out of the food room and over to the pool.

There they saw Murphy struggling to keep a hold of Wanda’s tail, while Mango was swimming in circles around him, sending flumes of water his way with continuous flicks of her tail.

“Mango, I swear to god. Would you PLEASE just stop for five minutes so I can finish Wanda’s check-up?! I can’t concentrate with you splashing me every five seco–”

“Need some help?”

Murphy looked up, seeing Clarke and Lexa stood beside the pool’s edge.

“You have no idea! Please get in here and distract Mango until I’m done?”

“Sure thing, Murph.”

The girls went to retrieve their wetsuits from the storage room – “You just want to get me wet.” “Oh my god, Clarke.” – and then joined Murphy in the water, bringing with them some toys for Mango.

The next hour or so was spent playing with the dolphin, Lexa showing Clarke how to play fetch with Mango and her favourite beach ball, which Clarke absolutely loved. Then Murphy’s job was done and they took some time to just have fun, Lexa splashing Clarke which resulted in Clarke splashing her back, until Lexa grabbed Clarke’s arms and stopped her with a kiss. The moment wasn’t as romantic as it could’ve been, what with Murphy making gagging noises in the background as they stared lovingly at each other for too long, but still, it was perfect.

Then it was time to get back to work for the next few hours, and it was the most enjoyable day Clarke had had at Polis since she’d started working there. It was filled with stolen kisses and secretive smiles, and Clarke was certain that the butterflies in her stomach were going to tumble out of her lips and spill the truth about how much she felt for Lexa.

(Little did she know, Lexa was thinking the exact same thing.)

They stood outside the center gates at closing time, Lexa holding Clarke’s hands in her own as the sun set over the calm water.

“So, um, I’ll see you tomorrow? Clarke said shyly.

“You know it, babe.”

They parted with a soft kiss, and Lexa was amazed at how it still took her breath away. She watched Clarke walk away, the sunset casting a glow on her face that could only be described as ethereal. Then Lexa started making her own way home, chuckling to herself when she realised that she was never going to hear the end of this from Anya.


	8. Chapter 8

A month passed and neither Clarke nor Lexa thought they would ever be so happy. Their days were spent at Polis, goofing around with Murphy during their lunch breaks and teasing Gus by tugging on his ponytail as they raced past him to their various jobs (he’d roll his eyes and mutter under his breath but Lexa sometimes caught the twinkle in his eye and knew he cared about them, even if he’d never admit it). Their nights were comprised of romantic meals by the sea and cute dates in Clarke’s tiny apartment, accompanied by soft kisses and breathy moans and lots of disputes over who was the big spoon vs who was the little spoon.

Then came one sunny Wednesday morning when Clarke awoke to a text from Lexa telling her to head into work without her. Despite her confusion, Clarke did as she was told, asking Gus about it when she entered the staffroom. He gave a vague answer – something about Lexa asking for the morning off for some reason that he didn’t know – which Clarke knew was unlike Lexa but she figured that she had something important to take care of.

So Clarke tried to brush off the anxiety that was lingering in her chest, throwing herself into her work for the morning. Today’s first task was feeding the dolphins with Murphy (who had become one of her favourite people during her time there, with his easy smile and kind eyes and wicked sense of humour) and so she managed to distract herself from worrying about Lexa and had a pretty fun morning.

They had just finished packing away the now-clean food buckets when her day brightened up in a way that Clarke did not anticipate. Stepping out of the dolphin storage room, plastic boots squelching on the tiled floor, she turned to find Murphy looking at something behind her, eyebrow quirked.

She barely had time to turn and look when a warm body barrelled into her, arms grabbing her waist and lifting her up into the air. Then she pulled back, seeing first one and then three all-too familiar faces beaming at her, and her heart soared.

“Raven?! What the hell are you doing here???”

Raven didn’t have much of a chance to answer before Clarke was pulling her in for another hug, so Octavia spoke up from behind her.

“We thought we’d come and surprise you! See how you were doing down here.”

Clarke let go of Raven, rushing over to throw her arms around Octavia.

“I can’t believe you guys are here! I’ve missed you so much.”

“We missed you too, you big sap,” Raven laughed. “And look, we even brought Bellamy.”

He smiled and waved from where he was stood behind Raven, holding out his arms for a hug of his own. Then Clarke stepped back and took a moment to just look at her friends, her whole body buzzing with warmth. But her happiness deflated a little when she looked around at the crowds of people milling around them.

“I really want to hang out with you guys, but I’m working right now.”

She looked crestfallen, but was surprised when her friend’s smiles didn’t falter.

“It’s all good, Clarke,” Bellamy grinned.

She frowned at him.

“We got you cleared for a couple of hours.”

“What?”

“How d’you think we got back here in the first place?” Raven gestured to the back entrance to Dolphin Domain. “Your lovely boss, Gus, he let us in.”

Clarke’s eyes widened. “Gus?”

A nod from Octavia.

“Are you sure it was Gus? Big guy, like six feet tall, kinda scary–”

“–insane biceps, awesome tattoos. Yeah, it was him, Clarke,” Raven laughed.

“But… I don’t get it. Why would he–”

“We told him you deserved a break after working so hard. He agreed,” Octavia shrugged.

“But how did you guys even know where to find me?”

“Not important,” Bellamy said. “Now, are you going to stand here debating logic with us all day, or are you going to take us somewhere we can sit and eat? I’m starving.”

Clarke was still baffled by everything that was happening, but she wasn’t about to turn down an opportunity to spend some time with her friends who she hadn’t seen in such a long time.

“Sure. Let’s go to the cafeteria.”

She began walking towards the main complex, but then noticed Murphy, who was still skulking around by the dolphin pool. She glanced over at Bellamy, who was side-eyeing Murphy in the least subtle way possible, and had an idea.

“Hey, Murph! Wanna come join us for some food?”

He stared at her, doubt flitting across his features. “I don’t wanna intrude.”

“You won’t be. Come on, I want you to meet everyone.”

He lingered by the gate a moment longer, until his eyes met Bellamy’s and they shared a smile. Then he shuffled over to them, waving shyly.

“Hey, I’m Murphy.”

He tried to address the whole group, but his eyes kept flitting to Bellamy, who was flushing red and staring down at his shoes. Octavia noticed the exchange between the two boys, smirking as she held out a hand for Murphy to shake.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Octavia, that’s Raven,” she gestured at Raven, who answered with finger guns, “And this dork is Bellamy, my brother.”

“Bellamy,” Murphy nodded.

“Hey,” Bellamy answered gruffly, failing to keep the nervous quake out of his voice.

They held each other’s gaze for a few seconds, until Raven interrupted with an obnoxiously loud cough.

“Right, uh, let’s get going,” Clarke blinked, stifling a laugh behind her hand as she linked arms with Raven.

“Talk about whipped already”, Octavia muttered, bumping Clarke’s shoulder as they shared a quiet laugh.

Their walk to the cafeteria was a loud one, Raven and Octavia grilling Clarke about Polis and, of course, Lexa. Murphy was delighted when Lexa was brought up in conversation, never missing an opportunity to tease Clarke about her.

“Oh, you guys should seeeeeeeeeeee them together,” he teased, ducking as Clarke aimed a smack at his head, “They’re sooooo cute!”

Raven sniggered as Clarke blushed and crossed her arms over her chest, walking ahead of the group to hide her pink-tinged cheeks. They reached the food area a minute later, each grabbing a tray and piling it with food before commandeering a large table by the condiment stall.

“So, Clarke,” Octavia spoke carefully, twirling a string of pasta around her fork, “Is she your girlfriend, or…”

The clatter of knives and forks lessened as they all turned, awaiting Clarke’s answer.

“Well, we haven’t– I mean, officially, I guess it’s like… I don’t know, really.”

Clarke’s voice was edged with something that sounded a lot like sadness. Bellamy put down his sandwich, putting his arm around Clarke and pulling her to his chest. Murphy watched from the other side of Bellamy, eyes cloudy with concern.

“Hey, come on, Griff,” Raven spoke up from across the table. “Today is too beautiful and too fun for people to be sad.”

“That’s gay, Raven,” Clarke mumbled.

“Yep, sure is,” she grinned, eyes lighting up when Clarke’s lips twitched a little. “Aha, is that a smile I see?”

“No,” Clarke pouted, hiding her face in Bellamy’s shirt.

“I think it iiiiiiiis,” Raven sang. “Face it, Clarke, it’s impossible to be upset when you’re with four people that are _this_ good-looking.”

Clarke let out a full-on laugh at this, which then had the others laughing too.

“Okay, let’s talk about something else,” Octavia interjected, lacing her fingers with Raven’s before turning to Clarke with a huge smile on her face, “Like, hm, let me see… The fact that Ray and I are adopting a puppy?!”

Clarke’s eyes lit up and she sprang into a sitting position, hands clasped to her chest.

“Are you serious?!”

Octavia nodded, Raven beaming beside her. “Yep. Decided on it a couple of weeks ago.”

The conversation continued on loudly, Raven and Clarke scrolling through pictures of puppies on Raven’s phone while Octavia chatted with Murphy and Bellamy (the boys quickly discovered that they shared a love for poetry and Octavia rolled her eyes and smirked at Bellamy’s all-too-obvious heart eyes).

Then 1pm rolled around and the radio on Murphy’s belt came to life with a hiss and a crackle.

“Murphy?”

He fumbled with the straps that tied the walkie to his belt, Bellamy laughing softly as Murphy smiled sheepishly before lifting the radio to his lips.

“Yeah, Gus?”

“Sorry to spoil your fun but I need you and Clarke back at work now. The seals need check-ups and one of the coral pools needs a good clean.”

Murphy glanced at Clarke apologetically, who had already heard everything and was looking at her friends with reluctance in her eyes. But Raven sprung to her feet, never one to let a situation stay negative for too long.

“Hey now, I don’t want to see any sad faces. No frowns, okay?”

Clarke nodded, taking a breath before forcing a smile onto her face.

“Besides,” Raven grinned, helping Octavia stand too, “Now we know where you work. So you’re never getting rid of us.”

The group said their goodbyes, Clarke wrapping first Bellamy in a hug, then Octavia and Raven. She walked them to the exit, happy tears in her eyes.

“Thank you guys so much for coming to see me today. I’m still super confused and don’t really know what you’re doing here or what inspired such a random visit, but I’m so glad you all came.”

“You’re getting soft on me, Griff,” Raven grumbled, playfully shoving Clarke who adopted an air of indifference.

“Whatever, Ray. We all know you’re a big sap really.”

“It’s true.”

“I can confirm that.”

“Oh, shut up, all of you.”

Clarke smiled once more at her friends, blowing them kisses before waving them off.

“I call shotgun!”

“Seriously, Bell?”

“What?”

“Are you five?”

“You’re just mad because I called shotgun before you, O.”

“No, I’m mad because you’re an immature dork.”

“Rude.”

“And don’t think I didn’t catch you swapping numbers with Murphy earlier.”

“How did you–”

“I know everything, big brother.”

“God damn it, O…”

Clarke turned back to Murphy as their voices faded away, a content smile on her face.

“So, did you have a good time?”

“It was amazing. Remind me to thank Gus later.”

Murphy gave Clarke a gentle pat on the shoulder, before nodding towards the seal pen.

“Duty calls.”

The rest of their day went on without any more unexpected surprises. Clarke teased Murphy about Bellamy while they worked, laughing as he babbled on about “his adorable freckles and his cute smile and oh my GOD his arms, Clarke, his _arms_ …)

Then it was closing time and they walked back to the staff room, a satisfying ache settling in Clarke’s bones from a successful day of hard work. She grabbed her rucksack from her locker, heart jumping when she saw her phone screen alight with a new message.

**Lexa: Hey, beautiful. Sorry I’ve been MIA all day. Let me make it up to you?**

Clarke smiled down at her phone, hurriedly typing her reply in agreement with Lexa’s question.

**Lexa: Great. Meet me in Turtle Territory in ten minutes.**

Murphy’s head popped round the corner of the locker room, finding Clarke now staring at her phone in confusion.

“What’s going on?”

“It’s Lexa. She’s being weird.”

Clarke swore she saw excitement spark in Murphy’s eyes at these words, but it was gone in an instant. Must’ve just been the lighting in the room, she decided.

“Well, uh, I gotta go,” Murphy said, eyes flitting to Clarke’s phone once more before he sauntered away. “Have a good evening, Clarke!”

“Why do you say that like you know something’s going to–” Clarke’s words were cut off by the slam of the staff room door. “Hm. Bye then.”

She huffed as she slung her bag over one shoulder, making her way out into the warm glow of the setting sun. Polis looked so different after hours – it was so quiet, so serene. The air was cool, peppered with the soft hoots of birds and the gentle splashing of the animals settling down for the evening. She reached the turtle pen a few minutes later, giving a quiet hello to the turtles paddling back and forth.

At first, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. But then she noticed Mash, a young male turtle who was recently brought in to Polis with fishing wire caught around his neck. Swimming over to her side of the pool, he came to a stop beside her, lunging forwards and thrusting his head into the bucket of food that was suspended just above the water. She laughed, leaning over to watch him, but then noticed a slip of paper stuck to his shell. Frowning, she reached over the low pool wall, peeling the paper from his back and unfolding it.

The words “Will you be my girlfriend?” were written on it in neat print, the dots above the I’s replaced with tiny hearts. Clarke’s heart stopped and her breath caught as her eyes drank it all in, the paper now quivering in her trembling hands.

Her head whipped up when she heard a rustling in the bushes to her right. She watched as Lexa stepped out into the open, a shy smile on her face.

“Lexa?”

The brunette walked over until she was stood in front of Clarke, eyes shining.

“What– where have you been all day?”

Lexa gestured to Mash, then to the note in Clarke’s hand.

“You’ve been… training a turtle to swim to a bucket of food so it could deliver a note?”

“Well, it sounds weird when you say it like that,” Lexa chuckled. “But yeah, pretty much.”

“But, how…?”

“When I told Gus about my plan to ask you to be my girlfriend, he said he loved it and he wanted to help. So we invited your friends here–”

“That was you?!”

“–so you could have some fun, and, more importantly, not spend all day worrying about what I was doing.”

“How did you know I would worr–”

Lexa shut Clarke up with a raised eyebrow and a knowing smile.

“So I set this up and made sure Mash was ready to go, and now here we are.”

“I don’t know what to say.”

Lexa smiled a little, taking Clarke’s hands in her own. “Well, you could say yes?”

“Are you sure? I mean, are you sure about me? I don’t want you to have all these ideas and expectations of me only for you to be disappoi–”

“Clarke.” Lexa’s voice was playfully stern. “I did not spend all day with a naughty adolescent reptile only for you to doubt my commitment.”

Clarke couldn’t help but laugh at that.

“I think that’s the most Lexa-type sentence I’ve ever heard.”

“Care to grace me with a Clarke-type answer?” Lexa spoke softly, nerves etched into her face.

Clarke didn’t hesitate this time. Releasing her hands from Lexa’s, she threw herself into Lexa’s arms, peppering her face with kisses as the brunette laughed into the cool night air.

“I’ll take that as a yes, then?” she whispered, stepping back and cupping Clarke’s face in her hands.

Clarke nodded through her tears, staring up at Lexa with unrestrained adoration in her eyes. Lexa stepped forward, planting the softest of kisses on Clarke’s cold lips. Clarke’s arms snaked around Lexa’s waist as she gasped into her mouth, head spinning as Lexa deepened the kiss. Then Lexa pulled her head back a fraction, kissing Clarke’s nose before resting their foreheads together. They stayed like that for a while, shrouded under the pale glimmer of the moonlight, surrounded by the splashes and clicks that filled the night air.

Clarke could feel Lexa’s heart racing, and she brought her hand up to rest on Lexa’s chest.

“Who’d have thought?” Lexa murmured a minute later, breath brushing across Clarke’s lips.

Clarke lifted her head up to look at Lexa, a question in her eyes.

“Who’d have thought that you breaking into this enclosure would lead to this?”

Clarke laughed softly. “Not me. But I guess I owe these guys a thank you, huh?”

She kissed Lexa again before glancing over to Mash, who still had his head buried in the food bucket.

“Thanks, little guys.”

Clarke then turned in Lexa’s arms, her back pressed into Lexa’s chest as Lexa’s arms wrapped around her stomach.

“Lexa?”

“Hm?”

“How much did you tell Murphy about this?”

“Everything, pretty much. Why?”

Clarke groaned, her head dropping back onto Lexa’s shoulder. “He’s never going to let us live this cuteness down, y’know.”

“I’m aware of that.”

“And you don’t mind?”

“No. You’re worth it.”

Clarke heard the honest sincerity in Lexa’s voice, turning to face her once again. Their eyes locked, Lexa stroking Clarke’s jaw with her thumb.

“Ever since that day I caught you knee-deep in a pool full of turtles.”

A shiver rippled between them, and then Lexa captured Clarke’s lips with her own. They melted into the kiss, everything else fading away into the background. Lexa stilled only once, interrupting the kiss to whisper against Clarke’s lips:

“You’ve always been worth it, Clarke.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, there we go. 
> 
> It's pretty sad to see this fic come to an end, but writing it has been so incredible and I need to say a massive thank you to everyone who's supported me during this process. Thank you for all the likes, comments, and encouragement. It all means so much to me. Y'all are wonderful.
> 
> I really hope everyone enjoyed this fic, and stick around if you did, because I have loads more planned for the future!


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